Taiwan-based major Apple supplier TSMC expects strong growth to accelerate in coming years due to booming semiconductor demand, as the tech giant on Thursday reported a record quarterly profit, beating expectations, and said it plans to invest at least a third more than last year.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC), a major Apple Inc supplier that also has customers such as Qualcomm Inc, posted a 16.4% rise in fourth-quarter profit.
The company said it expects to lift capital spending to between $40 billion and $44 billion this year. Last year it spent $30 billion.
The company is entering “a period of higher structural growth”, Chief Executive C. C. Wei told an online earnings briefing.
TSMC, Asia’s most valuable listed firm and globally the largest contract chipmaker, expects capacity to remain tight this year and demand to be sustained in the long term, Wei said.
The company set a long-term target of “53% and higher” for its gross margins, up from a previous target of “50% and higher.”
TSMC forecast first-quarter revenue to be in the range of $16.6 billion to $17.2 billion, compared with $12.92 billion in the same period a year earlier. For the year, it expects to grow in the mid -to-high 20% range in U.S. dollar terms.
MacDailyNews Take: TSMC’s stellar performance bodes well for Apple which will report Q122 (holiday 2021) earnings results on January 27th. We’ll have Apple’s results for you as soon as they are released, right around 1:30 p.m. PT / 4:30 p.m. ET and follow that with live notes from Apples’ conference call at 2:00 p.m. PT / 5:00 p.m. ET that day.
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[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
I think I heard China’s lips smacking, again.