Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday posted record-high sales for last month after the company said customers were lining up for chip supply.
Sales jumped 19.4 percent year-on-year, or 2.4 percent month-on-month, to NT$37.22 billion (US$1.17 billion) last month, according to a company statement.
Citigroup analyst Roland Shu (徐振志) said yesterday in a client note that the results meant TSMC was on track to hit its revenue target of between NT$109 billion and NT$111 billion in the third quarter.
Shipments of 3G baseband and application processors were the strongest, Shu said. He rated TSMC with “buy” and offered a target price of NT$78, implying a 28 percent upside from the stock’s closing price of NT$61 yesterday.
Separately, TSMC’s board yesterday approved the capital appropriation of US$319.6 million to develop its new solar and LED businesses.
Last month, TSMC said it planned to spend a total of US$100 million on green energy businesses.
The board also gave the go-ahead to a US$1.97 billion budget to expand advanced processor technology capacity at 12-inch factories and a US$369 million investment in the new 12-inch factory in Taichung.
TSMC’s board also agreed to increase the company’s research and development and sustaining capital appropriation at US$678.73 million from US$534.63 million, while agreeing to inject up to US$225 million on its Chinese subsidiary, TSMC China Co in Shanghai.
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