Author: Wen-Yee Lee, Faith Hung and Yimou Lee
Taipei, January 15 (Reuters) – Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world’s leading producer of advanced artificial intelligence chips, reported on Thursday that its fourth-quarter profit surged 35%, hitting a record high. It expects strong growth this year and said more U.S. manufacturing capacity is in the pipeline.
TSMC, riding the rise of what it calls the “artificial intelligence megatrend,” said its customers are “providing strong signals” and reaching out directly to request capacity.
The Taiwanese company, which counts Nvidia and Apple as major customers, last year announced plans to invest $100 billion in the United States, in addition to committing $65 billion to build three factories in Arizona, one of which is already up and running.
TSMC CEO CC Wei told a news conference that it has purchased more land in Arizona and said this provides a hint of its U.S. plans, without elaborating.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in a podcast released last week that TSMC will increase investment in the country. The New York Times also reported that the Trump administration is about to reach a trade agreement with Taiwan to reduce the tariff rate from 20% to 15%, and hopes that TSMC will commit to building at least five more factories in Arizona.
Taiwan said on Thursday it could reach a tariff deal with the United States soon.
Net profit climbed to NT$505.7 billion (US$16 billion) from October to December, achieving double-digit growth for the seventh consecutive quarter and well above the LSEG SmartEstimate of NT$478.4 billion. The company said first-quarter revenue was likely to surge 40% from a year earlier to $35.8 billion.
Capital spending is likely to jump 37% this year to $56 billion and will increase “significantly” in 2028 and 2029, it added.
The company said that production capacity is currently very tight and it is working hard to narrow the gap between supply and demand, adding that a second wafer fab in Japan is under construction and it will continue to invest in Taiwan.
A boom in artificial intelligence has helped Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Asia’s most valuable listed company, leapfrog rivals. Currently, the company’s market value is about $1.4 trillion, more than twice the market value of South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co.
TSMC’s Taipei-listed shares rose 44% last year, outperforming the broader market’s 25.7% gain. They are up about 9% so far this year.
(USD 1 = 31.5920 NT$)
(Reporting by Wen-Yee Lee, Faith Hung and Yimou Lee; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree and Edwina Gibbs)