Number of TSMC shareholders jumps to 8-month high despite share price drop

Taipei, Dec. 20 (CNA) Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) this week recorded an increase in shareholders to the highest number in almost eight months, although its share price fell 3.38 percent from the previous week, according to statistics released Saturday.

As of Friday, TSMC had 1.88 million shareholders, the highest number since the week of April 25 and an increase of 31,870 from last week, Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) data showed.

The number of shareholders jumped despite a drop of NT$50 (US$1.59), or 3.38 percent, in TSMC share price from last week, to NT$1,430.00, as investors took profits from their earlier gains amid volatility among tech stocks in the United States.

The fall pushed down TSMC's market capitalization by NT$1.29 trillion in one week to NT$37.08 trillion, the statistics showed.

The lower stock price, however, prompted buying by retail investors who hold odd lots, sending the number soaring over the past week by 25,217 to about 1.40 million as of Friday, the data indicated.

Odd-lot trading typically makes it easier for retail investors to buy high-priced stocks such as TSMC in quantities of less than 1,000 shares.

This week, the number of investors who held 1,000-5,000 TSMC shares rose by 5,839 to 376,597 as of Friday, while the number of investors who held 1 million TSMC shares or more increased by 12 to 1,541.

TSMC, the most heavily weighted stock on the local market, is expected to continue to benefit from strong global demand for its high-end processes, including 3-nanometer nodes and sophisticated 3D chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) IC packaging services, to meet strong global demand for artificial intelligence applications, according to market analysts.