Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday posted 6.7 percent growth in revenue for last month, bringing last quarter’s revenue to surpass the company’s earlier forecast.
Revenue grew to NT$49.96 billion (US$1.66 billion) last month, compared with NT$46.83 billion in February. In the first three months of this year, revenue rose 1.65 percent to NT$148.22 billion from NT$145.81 billion in the previous quarter, bucking the industry’s seasonal downtrend.
The figure beat TSMC’s earlier projection of NT$147 billion, which the Hsinchu-based firm adjusted upward last month from between NT$136 billion and NT$138 billion in view of active restocking demand and rising demand for its advanced 28-nanometer chips.
“The first-quarter upside is perhaps a good prelude to an already anticipated strong year,” TSMC spokesperson Lora Ho (何麗梅) said in a statement.
TSMC said in January that revenue would grow by a double-digit percentage rate annually this year.
TSMC’s first-quarter figure matched Credit Suisse’s estimate and beat the consensus forecast of NT$142.08 billion.
Credit Suisse analyst Randy Abrams said in a report yesterday that TSMC would post 15 percent sequential growth in revenue this quarter, thanks to consistent 8-inch and 12-inch wafer orders from clients.
Abrams also forecast TSMC to ramp up 20-nanometer chips for Apple Inc in the second half of the year, which could add more than 10 percent to the chipmaker’s revenue in the July-to-December period.
Abrams rated TSMC “outperform” and set its target price at NT$130, implying an almost 9 percent climb from the company’s share price of NT$119.5 yesterday.
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