TSMC hits new profit high in Q2

Semiconductor giant TSMC recently released its financial performance report for the second quarter ending on June 30, 2024. According to the financial report, TSMC's consolidated revenue for the second quarter was NT $673.51 billion (currently approximately RMB 149.8 billion), a year-on-year increase of 40.1%, higher than analysts' expectations of NT $657.58 billion; Net profit recorded NT $247.85 billion, a year-on-year increase of 36.3%, exceeding the expected NT $238.8 billion. TSMC's Q2 revenue and net profit both hit historic highs.
 

TSMC's HPC (high-performance computing) business remained its largest source of revenue in the second quarter, including GPUs, CPUs, AI accelerators, etc., contributing more than half of its total revenue for the first time, reaching 52%. Smartphone related businesses accounted for 33% of total revenue, with a growth rate that decreased by 1% compared to the previous quarter.
 

From the perspective of chip manufacturing processes, advanced processes (including 7nm and below processes) accounted for 67% of TSMC's total wafer revenue, higher than 65% in the first quarter. Among them, the sales of 3nm, 5nm, and 7nm chips accounted for 15%, 35%, and 17% respectively. The 3nm process is TSMC's most advanced mass production process, which was first widely used on Apple's A17 Pro chip.
 

The Chairman and President of TSMC stated that the demand for 3nm chips is very strong, and it is not ruled out that more 5nm processes will be converted to 3nm. According to its introduction, the N2 factory responsible for the 2nm OEM process is currently progressing smoothly, and the 2nm process is planned to achieve mass production by 2025.
 

It was also revealed that AI chips continue to drive strong demand for advanced packaging of TSMC CoWoS. It is expected that CoWoS production capacity will double in the next two years, with the aim of achieving supply-demand balance by 2026.
 

As for the next quarter, TSMC stated that from July to September, based on the median value calculated in US dollars, it is expected that operating revenue will increase by 32% year-on-year. The expected annual operating revenue has been raised from the previous "year-on-year growth of 21% to 25%" to "slightly higher than 24% to 26%".