TSMC January sales 2nd highest ever, but will book NT$5.3 billion loss

Taipei, Feb. 10 (CNA) Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.'s (TSMC) sales in January were the second highest in company history, but it will still book a separate loss of NT$5.3 billion (US$161 million) due to major earthquakes in southern Taiwan during the month.

In a statement Monday, the world's largest contract chipmaker said it posted consolidated sales of NT$293.29 billion in January, up 5.4 percent from December and up 35.9 percent from a year earlier.

Only the NT$314.24 billion in consolidated sales it posted in October 2024 was higher than the January total in TSMC history, company data showed.

Analysts attributed the growth to strong global demand for high-end chips amid a boom in artificial intelligence development, which offset any sales lull during the traditionally low season for tech sales in January.

Despite the strong revenue report, TSMC's sales momentum was affected to some extent by a magnitude 6.4 earthquake that rocked southern Taiwan on Jan. 21 and triggered a series of aftershocks.

The shaking forced TSMC to temporarily suspend its operations and evacuate its employees based in the Southern Taiwan Science Park, where the chipmaker rolls out chips made using the 3 nanometer process, the company's most advanced technology in mass production.

TSMC said that while the structures of its facilities were not affected by the earthquakes, and water and power supplies and operating and security systems soon returned to normal, the company still sustained losses in wafer production.

Based on a preliminary estimate, TSMC said it will book a loss of about NT$5.3 billion for the first quarter due to the earthquakes.

That will lead the company to report first quarter sales closer to the lower end of its guidance ranging between US$25.0 billion and US$25.8 billion made by the company in mid-January, it said Monday.

TSMC said it will do its best to make up the losses caused by the earthquake, and it left unchanged its forecast for first quarter gross margin -- the difference between revenue and cost of goods sold -- of 57-59 percent.

It also maintained its forecast of a 24-26 percent increase in sales in 2025 in U.S. dollar terms.

The market is currently focusing on a TSMC board meeting scheduled for Wednesday (Taipei time) in the United States at a time when U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened a possible 100 percent tariff on chips.

It is the first time TSMC is holding a board meeting in the U.S. in the company's 37-year history, and analysts are wondering whether TSMC will announce more investments in the U.S. market to avoid high tariffs.

TSMC has already committed to investing US$65 billion to build three advanced wafer fabs in Arizona, with the first of them already in production.