TSMC first-quarter profit tops estimates, rising 60%, but Trump trade policy threatens growth

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company on Thursday beat profit expectations for the first quarter, thanks to a continued surge in demand for AI chips. Here are TSMC's first-quarter results versus LSEG consensus estimates: Revenue: $839.25 billion New Taiwan dollars, vs. NT$835.13 billion expected Net income: NT$361.56 billion, vs. NT$354.14 billion TSMC's net income increased 60.3% from the same period last year to NT$361.56 billion, while net revenue in the March quarter rose 41.6% to NT$839.25 billion. TSMC's high-performance computing division which encompasses artificial intelligence and 5G applications drove sales in the quarter, increasing 7% since the last quarter to account for 59% of total revenue. Meanwhile, the company said advanced technologies, defined as 7-nanometer and less, accounted for 73% of total wafer revenue. In semiconductor technology, smaller nanometer sizes signify more compact transistor designs, which lead to greater processing power and efficiency ... Read full article.