TSMC investor meeting to focus on expansion, tariff fallout: Analyst

Taipei, April 14 (CNA) Investors will be keeping a close eye on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.'s (TSMC) plans for capital expenditure and global expansion when the company holds its investor conference on Thursday, amid ongoing global uncertainty over U.S. tariffs, according to an analyst.

Amid uncertainties in the global economy caused by the United States' recent tariff policies, investors are closely watching whether end-user demand worldwide will weaken, potentially affecting the business outlook for the semiconductor industry, Liu Pei-chen (劉佩真), a researcher at the Taiwan Industry Economics Database under the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research, told CNA over the weekend.

Liu said TSMC's pledge to invest an additional US$100 billion to build two more wafer fabs, two IC assembly plants, and a research and development center in the U.S. state of Arizona is seen as an effort to avoid tariffs on semiconductors.

These global expansion efforts are expected to be one of the main topics at TSMC's investor conference on Thursday, with particular attention on the progress of its large-scale investments in Arizona, she added.

While artificial intelligence is likely to encourage consumers to replace old PCs and smartphones with new ones in the global market and boost demand for semiconductors, it is worth watching whether the current uncertainties related to tariffs will compromise growth in the semiconductor industry, Liu said.

Following weeks of abrupt shifts in U.S. tariff policies, Washington said late Friday that it had exempted electronic imports from its "reciprocal" tariffs, including computers, phones and semiconductors.

On Sunday, however, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that the exemption was "not permanent."

On Saturday, U.S. President Donald Trump said that his administration would be taking a look at semiconductors and the entire electronics supply chain as part of its upcoming National Security Tariff Investigations.

Amid such uncertainty, there are concerns that TSMC's investments in the U.S. will squeeze its funding and impact its expansion in Taiwan and other markets such as Japan and Germany, according to Liu.

Investors at Thursday's conference are expected to focus on TSMC's capital expenditure plans and expansion strategy, as well as whether its aggressive global expansion will impact its gross margin, she said.

In particular, Liu said, investors will be paying attention to TSMC's reported joint chip making venture with U.S.-based Intel Corp., which reportedly would give TSMC, the world's largest contract chip maker, a stake in the new company.

There are fears, however, that such a joint venture could lead to leaks of TSMC's business secrets.

At its last investor conference held on Jan. 16, TSMC forecast its 2025 sales growth at 24-26 percent in U.S. dollar terms.

According to local news reports on Monday, TSMC will break ground on its third wafer fab in Arizona in early June and speed up its construction plans for a chip assembly plant there, as part of its new US$100 billion investment proposal that was announced in March.

The additional US$100 billion will boost TSMC's total investments in Arizona to US$165 billion.