TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co reported a 57% jump in fourth-quarter profit on Thursday due to a surge in demand for advanced chips used in artificial intelligence processing.
The world’s largest contract chipmaker, whose customers include Apple (NASDAQ: ) and Nvidia (NASDAQ: ), reported net profit of T$374.68 billion ($11.4 billion) for the quarter ended Dec. 31, which a record high for any quarter.
This was in line with the LSEG SmartEstimate of T$377.95 billion produced by 22 analysts. SmartEstimates gives more weight to analyst forecasts that are more consistently accurate.
However, the Taiwanese company faces problems due to the US government’s technology restrictions on China and uncertainty surrounding the new administration of President-elect Donald Trump, which has threatened broad import tariffs.
The US government said on Monday it would further restrict exports of AI chips and technology, adding to the potential problems TSMC could face, although Taiwan and other close US allies will be allowed unrestricted access to US AI technology.
TSMC is spending billions of dollars on new factories overseas, including $65 billion on three factories in the US state of Arizona, although it says most production will remain in Taiwan.
The artificial intelligence boom has helped boost the share price of Asia’s most valuable company, with Taipei-listed TSMC shares jumping 81% in the past year, compared with a 28.5% gain for the broader market.
Shares rose 3.8% on Thursday ahead of the earnings announcement.
(1 USD = 33.0390 Taiwan dollars)
