TSMC is Now the Biggest Driver of AI, Not the Brake
[Opinion] More capex, more fabs, faster revenue growth, larger US footprint. It's clear that Chip Kong is ready to push AI growth further ahead
Good Evening from Taipei,
TSMC is now without a doubt the world’s premier facilitator of the AI boom.
Second-quarter earnings, reported Thursday afternoon, were themselves quite undramatic. Revenue was in line with guidance and gross margin just beat its own outlook.
The real excitement came with three announcements:
Full-year revenue guidance raised: from over 30% growth to over 40% YoY in USD terms
Full-year capex raised: from $52-$56 billion, to $60-$64 billion
Another $100 billion added to its Arizona plans, to include a 2nm fab, taking it to $265 billion
Not announced, but surfaced through my analysis of reported data, was a 15% increase in average prices to the highest on record. This rising ASP indicates that recent price hikes across all leading nodes, reported exclusively by Culpium last month, have already started to kick in.
The impact is evident even when accounting for the higher proportion of revenue from leading edge versus legacy.
Higher prices, rising revenue expectations and a boost in capex are all clear signs that TSMC is more optimistic about the AI boom than it was six months ago.
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