Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday posted flat revenues of NT$36.67 billion (US$1.27 billion) for last month, bringing the world’s biggest contract chipmaker’s second-quarter revenues to the high end of its forecast.
The Hsinchu-based chipmaker recorded NT$110.51 billion in revenues during the second quarter, up 4.87 percent from NT$105.38 billion in the first quarter, as a result of rising end product -demand for computers and consumer electronics.
The second-quarter revenue figures were in line with TSMC’s projection in April, when the company said revenue would expand by between NT$109 billion and NT$111 billion this quarter, up between 3.44 percent and 5.33 percent quarter-on-quarter.
TSMC chairman and chief executive Morris Chang (張忠謀) told investors in April that the March earthquake in Japan would probably have “some effect on our second quarter demand because it has had an effect on our customers, or our customers’ customers’ supply chain.”
Recently, mounting worries about weakening demand and rising supply chain inventory has fueled speculation that TSMC could slash capital spending this year in response to escalating oversupply.
“As inventory is on the rise after increasing to exceed normal levels by 10 percent at the end of the first quarter, coupled with sliding demand, TSMC will have to cut capital spending,” said Eric Chen (陳慧明), a semiconductor analyst and co-head of the regional technology team at Daiwa Capital Markets.
Chen expected TSMC to trim capital expenditure by 15 percent to about US$6.63 billion from the record-high budget of US$7.8 billion for this year.
United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 2 contract chipmaker, is expected to follow suit by cutting spending on new equipment by 15 percent this year from US$1.8 billion, he said.
Yesterday, UMC said revenues fell 2.28 percent to NT$9.19 billion last month from NT$9.4 billion in May. In the second quarter, UMC made NT$28.15 billion in revenue, up 0.1 percent from NT$28.12 billion in the first quarter.
Meanwhile, excessive inventory last month cut revenue at the world’s largest chip packager Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (ASE, 日月光半導體) and could dampen its third-quarter outlook, Credit Suisse said.
ASE said revenues dropped 3.7 percent to NT$10.55 billion last month from NT$10.95 billion in May, excluding sales from newly acquired chip company Universal Scientific Industrial Co Ltd, 環隆電器), according to an e-mailed statement.
In the second quarter, ASE’s revenue grew 4.5 percent to NT$32.26 billion from NT$30.88 billion the previous quarter, missing the company’s target revenue growth by between 7 percent and 9 percent on a quarterly basis.
Credit Suisse yesterday revised downward its forecast of ASE’s net income to NT$16.59 billion for this year, from an earlier estimate of NT$18.97 billion.
DIVIDED VIEWS: Although the Fed agreed on holding rates steady, some officials see no rate cuts for this year, while 10 policymakers foresee two or more cuts There are a lot of unknowns about the outlook for the economy and interest rates, but US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled at least one thing seems certain: Higher prices are coming. Fed policymakers voted unanimously to hold interest rates steady at a range of 4.25 percent to 4.50 percent for a fourth straight meeting on Wednesday, as they await clarity on whether tariffs would leave a one-time or more lasting mark on inflation. Powell said it is still unclear how much of the bill would fall on the shoulders of consumers, but he expects to learn more about tariffs
NOT JUSTIFIED: The bank’s governor said there would only be a rate cut if inflation falls below 1.5% and economic conditions deteriorate, which have not been detected The central bank yesterday kept its key interest rates unchanged for a fifth consecutive quarter, aligning with market expectations, while slightly lowering its inflation outlook amid signs of cooling price pressures. The move came after the US Federal Reserve held rates steady overnight, despite pressure from US President Donald Trump to cut borrowing costs. Central bank board members unanimously voted to maintain the discount rate at 2 percent, the secured loan rate at 2.375 percent and the overnight lending rate at 4.25 percent. “We consider the policy decision appropriate, although it suggests tightening leaning after factoring in slackening inflation and stable GDP growth,”
Meta Platforms Inc offered US$100 million bonuses to OpenAI employees in an unsuccessful bid to poach the ChatGPT maker’s talent and strengthen its own generative artificial intelligence (AI) teams, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has said. Facebook’s parent company — a competitor of OpenAI — also offered “giant” annual salaries exceeding US$100 million to OpenAI staffers, Altman said in an interview on the Uncapped with Jack Altman podcast released on Tuesday. “It is crazy,” Sam Altman told his brother Jack in the interview. “I’m really happy that at least so far none of our best people have decided to take them
As they zigzagged from one machine to another in the searing African sun, the workers were covered in black soot. However, the charcoal they were making is known as “green,” and backers hope it can save impoverished Chad from rampant deforestation. Chad, a vast, landlocked country of 19 million people perched at the crossroads of north and central Africa, is steadily turning to desert. It has lost more than 90 percent of its forest cover since the 1970s, hit by climate change and overexploitation of trees for household uses such as cooking, officials say. “Green charcoal” aims to protect what
RSS