Shares of global chipmaking powerhouse Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) rose 9.79% today to hit a record high after the chipmaker topped quarterly estimates and raised its target for 2024 revenue growth.
The company—-the main chip manufacturer for Nvidia (NVDA) and Apple (AAPL)–expects sales to climb roughly 30% in U.S. dollar terms this year, up from previous projections for an increase in the mid-20% range. Taiwan’s largest company had raised its outlook for 2024 revenue just a few months ago in July.
The company also reported better-than-predicted earnings for the September quarter. And it forecast that capital expenditure would rise in 2025 from roughly $30 billion this year.
The company’s outlook reduced worries that investors have misjudged AI and semiconductor demand. Those fears have run rampant after ASML (ASML), the key chip equipment maker for the next generations of small and faster chips, reported about half the orders investors had expected.
“The [AI chip] demand is real and I believe it’s just the beginning,” TSMC CEO C. C. Wei said. “Everything’s stabilized and start to improve,” he said.
TSMC’s shares have surged more than 70% this year. Taiwan Semiconductor has been a member of my long-term 50 Stocks Portfolio since October 7, 2019 The position is up 329% since then as of the close on October 17.
