In This Article:
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Sees Q2 revenue at $19.6-$20.4 bln vs $15.68 bln year earlier
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Forecasts 2024 revenue to rise in low- to mid-20% range in USD
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TSMC Q1 net profit rises 9%, beats forecasts
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Stock price has surged on chip demand for AI applications
(Recasts with comments from earnings conference)
By Yimou Lee and Faith Hung
TAIPEI, April 18 (Reuters) -
TSMC, the world's largest chipmaker and a major Apple and Nvidia supplier, forecast second-quarter sales may rise as much as 30% as it rides a wave of demand for semiconductors used in artificial intelligence (AI) applications.
The surging need for processors for AI left executives at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), which investors watch closely as a bellwether for the chip industry, plainly stating just how strong the demand was.
"Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the insatiable AI-related demand for energy efficient computing power," CEO C.C. Wei said during the company's first-quarter earnings call.
"AI-related data centre demand is very, very strong," he said, adding that the shift from traditional servers to AI servers is "favourable" to TSMC.
TSMC has benefited from the AI wave that has helped it weather the tapering off of COVID-19 pandemic-led electronics demand and pushed the company's stock to a record.
AI servers are expected to account for a low-teens percentage of its 2024 revenue, more than double from last year, with that figure rising to more than 20% of revenue by 2028, it said.
Demand for auto chips would fall this year, compared with a previous estimate of growth, it added.
Looking ahead, TSMC said it expects business in the second quarter to be supported by strong demand for its industry-leading 3 nanometre (nm) and 5nm technologies, although that strength would be partially offset by sluggish demand for smartphones.
It maintained its guidance for capital spending this year at $28 billion to $32 billion, compared with last year's $30.45 billion, and said 70%-80% of that would go towards advanced technologies.
For 2024, the company said it expects revenue to rise in the low- to mid-20% range in U.S. dollar terms.
"Looking at 2024, macro economy and geopolitical uncertainties persist, which could further affect consumer confidence and end-market demand," TSMC said in a statement.
The online earnings call was briefly suspended for around 15 minutes shortly after it began due to technical issues with investors and analysts being unable to access it.
NET PROFIT RISES
Earlier on Thursday, TSMC posted a 9% rise in first-quarter net profit that beat market expectations, boosted by strong demand for advanced chips.