SEMICONDUCTORS
TSMC books disruption loss
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) on Friday said that it incurred a loss of NT$6.1 billion (US$197.9 million) due to a production disruption caused by substandard chemicals and the company would book the loss this quarter. On Feb. 15, TSMC said that the incident would reduce sales by US$550 million and drag down its earnings per share by NT$0.42 in the first quarter. The incident was the second major incident for TSMC since August last year, when its systems were infected with a virus, causing NT$2.6 billion in losses.
AUTOMOTIVE
Cheng Shin’s rating cut
S&P Global Ratings on Friday lowered its rating for tire manufacturer Cheng Shin Rubber Industry Co (正新橡膠) to “BB+” from “BBB,” with a stable outlook. S&P said in a statement that the rating cut came as Cheng Shin’s profitability and cash flow generation have weakened over the past few quarters and the prospects of a significant improvement in profitability over the next one to two years are limited.
AUTOMOTIVE
Tong Yang revenue slips
Automotive metal sheet and bumper manufacturer Tong Yang Industry Co (東陽) on Thursday reported NT$254 million in pretax profit for last month. That translated into pretax earnings per share of NT$0.44, the company said in a statement. Revenue last month plunged 13.59 percent year-on-year to NT$1.92 billion from NT$2.22 billion in January last year, mostly due to weak car sales in China. The company’s sales in the original electronics manufacturing business almost halved to NT$506 million last month, from NT$909 million, the company said.
China’s economic planning agency yesterday outlined details of measures aimed at boosting the economy, but refrained from major spending initiatives. The piecemeal nature of the plans announced yesterday appeared to disappoint investors who were hoping for bolder moves, and the Shanghai Composite Index gave up a 10 percent initial gain as markets reopened after a weeklong holiday to end 4.59 percent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dived 9.41 percent. Chinese National Development and Reform Commission Chairman Zheng Shanjie (鄭珊潔) said the government would frontload 100 billion yuan (US$14.2 billion) in spending from the government’s budget for next year in addition
Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) suffered its biggest stock decline in more than a month after the company unveiled new artificial intelligence (AI) chips, but did not provide hoped-for information on customers or financial performance. The stock slid 4 percent to US$164.18 on Thursday, the biggest single-day drop since Sept. 3. Shares of the company remain up 11 percent this year. AMD has emerged as the biggest contender to Nvidia Corp in the lucrative market of AI processors. The company’s latest chips would exceed some capabilities of its rival, AMD chief executive officer Lisa Su (蘇姿丰) said at an event hosted by
Sales RecORD: Hon Hai’s consolidated sales rose by about 20 percent last quarter, while Largan, another Apple supplier, saw quarterly sales increase by 17 percent IPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) on Saturday reported its highest-ever quarterly sales for the third quarter on the back of solid global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) globally, said it posted NT$1.85 trillion (US$57.93 billion) in consolidated sales in the July-to-September quarter, up 19.46 percent from the previous quarter and up 20.15 percent from a year earlier. The figure beat the previous third-quarter high of NT$1.74 trillion recorded in 2022, company data showed. Due to rising demand for AI, Hon Hai said its cloud and networking division enjoyed strong sales
TECH JUGGERNAUT: TSMC shares have more than doubled since ChatGPT’s launch in late 2022, as demand for cutting-edge artificial intelligence chips remains high Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday posted a better-than-expected 39 percent rise in quarterly revenue, assuaging concerns that artificial intelligence (AI) hardware spending is beginning to taper off. The main chipmaker for Nvidia Corp and Apple Inc reported third-quarter sales of NT$759.69 billion (US$23.6 billion), compared with the average analyst projection of NT$748 billion. For last month alone, TSMC reported revenue jumped 39.6 percent year-on-year to NT$251.87 billion. Taiwan’s largest company is to disclose its full third-quarter earnings on Thursday next week and update its outlook. Hsinchu-based TSMC produces the cutting-edge chips needed to train AI. The company now makes more
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