[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Seoyul] Taiwan's TSMC, the world's largest foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturing) company, posted a net profit in the fourth quarter of last year that exceeded market expectations.
According to Bloomberg on the 12th, TSMC announced in its earnings report that its net profit for the fourth quarter of last year was 295.9 billion Taiwan dollars (approximately 12.11 trillion KRW), a 78% increase compared to the same period last year (166.2 billion Taiwan dollars). This figure surpassed the market forecast (289.44 billion Taiwan dollars) by 6.45 billion Taiwan dollars.
TSMC's fourth-quarter revenue last year (625.5 billion Taiwan dollars) was lower than the forecast (636 billion Taiwan dollars). This is the first time in two years that TSMC's revenue fell short of expectations. However, it increased by 43% compared to the same period last year.
Wendell Huang, TSMC Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer (CFO), said at a briefing that "the fourth quarter of last year was affected by year-end market demand slowdown and customers' inventory adjustments," adding, "this is expected to continue into the first quarter of this year." He projected first-quarter revenue to be between $16.7 billion and $17.5 billion.
Bloomberg noted that the first-quarter revenue forecast is lower than the market expectation ($17.9 billion), stating, "amid global demand slowdown, TSMC may record a revenue decline for the first time in four years in this quarter."
TSMC expects its capital expenditure (facility investment) target for this year to be between $32 billion and $36 billion, a downward revision from last year's $36.3 billion.
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