Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday reported record quarterly revenue, joining other Apple Inc suppliers in signaling strong demand for the new 5G iPhones.
The world’s largest contract chipmaker said that sales totaled NT$117.4 billion (US$4.13 billion) last month.
Revenue last quarter reached a record NT$361.5 billion, according to Bloomberg News’ calculations based on previously released monthly sales figures. That came in slightly below the average estimate of NT$364 billion, which had risen in the past few months as expectations of iPhone sales grew.
TSMC shares have rallied more than 70 percent over the past 12 months and reached a record high yesterday.
The company has predicted that the industry “mega trends” of 5G and high-performance computing-related products would continue to drive growth over the long term.
“TSMC’s 4Q revenue could exceed guidance of US$12.7 billion on a continuation of strong chip orders from customers such as Apple” and Advanced Micro Devices, Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Charles Shum and Simon Chan wrote in a note on Wednesday.
Still, a strong New Taiwan dollar and higher expenses for advanced 5-nanometer chip production might pressure the chipmaker’s operating margin, they added.
Revenue for the entire year came in at NT$1.34 trillion, up about 25 percent from 2019. TSMC is scheduled to report quarterly profit on Thursday next week.
Separately, contract chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) posted NT$15.29 billion in revenue for last month, up 3.81 percent from NT$14.73 billion.
That meant annual growth of 14.35 percent amid a supply crunch of 8-inch wafers.
That brought the company’s overall revenue for last quarter to a historic high of NT$45.29 billion, up 0.94 percent from the third quarter of last year.
For the whole of last year, revenue jumped 19.31 percent year-on-year to NT$176.82 billion, an all-time high.
Additional reporting by Lisa Wang
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