Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) on Wednesday beat analysts expectations, despite reporting a drop in its revenues, by posting better than expected sales in the final quarter of 2023 amid signs the global slump in the chip market has now reached an end.
TSMC
2330,
which makes the microchips used in almost all electronic devices, reported Dec. 2023 sales worth NT$ 176.3 billion ($5.7 billion), representing an 8.4% drop compared to the same period in 2022 .
The Hsinchu headquartered company’s sales saw it achieve better-than-expected revenues worth NT$ 625.5 million for the fourth quarter and NT$ 2.16 trillion for the full year 2023, marking a 4.5% drop compared to its full-year sales in 2022.
Shares in TSMC remained roughly flat on Wednesday after rising by 21% over the previous 12 months.
A selection of 27 analysts polled by Factset had previously forecast the chipmaker would generate just NT$ 615.8 million worth of sales in the fourth quarter of 2023, amid a global slump in the semiconductor market caused by slow consumer demand for laptops and mobile phones.
TSMC’s better-than-expected sales signal the recent downturn in the global chip market has now reached an end.
Global semiconductor sales started rising for the first time in more than a year in November 2023, increasing 5.3% to $45.6 billion for the first time since Aug. 2022, according to data from the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization.
This increase was driven by surging demand for computer chips from the AI industry alongside efforts by Chinese electronics manufacturers to stockpile semiconductors in anticipation of U.S. efforts to tighten restrictions on China’s access to chips, according to a Dec. 2023 report from Deutsche Bank.
TSMC, which counts Taiwan’s state-owned National Development Fund as its second largest shareholder, is likely to benefit from any AI boom due to the dominance of its high-tech chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) chips.
In July 2023, TSMC outlined plans to invest NT$90 billion in building a new advanced chip manufacturing facility in Taiwan in a bid to capitalize on the AI boom.
