Taiwan's TSMC says net profit surges 36 pct in second quarter

HONG KONG

Taiwanese chip giant TSMC said Thursday net profit jumped 36 percent in the second quarter of 2024, buoyed by global demand for generative artificial intelligence products.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, whose clients include Apple and Nvidia, controls more than half the world's output of silicon wafers, used in everything from smartphones and cars to missiles.

Following the runaway success of ChatGPT, TSMC is now at the forefront of a generative AI revolution, churning out the world's most advanced microchips needed to power products made by Silicon Valley.

The firm said it made $7.6 billion in April-June, up from $5.6 billion in the same period last year.

Second-quarter revenues rose 32 percent on-year to $20.82 billion, it added in a statement.

"Advanced technologies, defined as 7-nanometer and more advanced technologies, accounted for 67 percent of total wafer revenue," it said.

This month the company, listed in Taiwan and New York, briefly broke the $1 trillion market capitalisation barrier, putting it ahead of Tesla as the seventh most valuable technology firm.

Its headquarters and the bulk of its fabrication plants are in Taiwan

The share price of several major AI companies, including TSMC, dropped on July 17 following reports that the United States was mulling strict curbs on firms that continue allowing China access to advanced chip tech.

To offset investor and client worries, TSMC has launched new factories overseas, including three planned in the United States, and one in Japan that opened this year.

Experts had called the Japan plant "the most significant TSMC international investment to open in many years."