TSMC shares surge almost 69% in 'Year of Snake'

Taipei, Feb. 11 (CNA) Shares in contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the most heavily weighted stock on the local market, soared almost 69 percent in the Year of the Snake.

On Wednesday, the last trading session of the Year of the Snake, TSMC shares, which accounted for more than 45 percent of total market capitalization on that day, closed at a record high of NT$1,915.00 (US$60.84), although the stock came off a historic intraday high of NT$1,925.00.

TSMC shares ended at NT$1,135.00 on Jan. 22, 2025, the last session of the previous Year of the Dragon.

During the Year of the Snake, trading in the stock which began on Feb. 3, 2025, saw it jump NT$780.00 or 68.7 percent, contributing about 6,262 points to the rise of the Taiex, the Taiwan Stock Exchange's benchmark index, which surged 10,080.30 points, or 42.85 percent to close at a new high of 33,605.71 on Wednesday.

The strong showing raised TSMC's market capitalization by more than NT$20 trillion during the year to NT$49.66 trillion as of Wednesday. The local main board's market value stood at a new high of NT$109.54 trillion on Wednesday.

Tech stocks on the Taiex faced downward pressure in the first half of 2025 on the emergence of China-based artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek and its low-cost AI model, and the announcement of sweeping "reciprocal" tariffs by U.S. President Donald Trump, market analysts said.

As a result, TSMC shares dipped to a low of NT$780 on April 9, when the Taiex closed at 17,391.76.

However, after the government announced the intervention of the NT$500 billion National Financial Stabilization Fund and continued adjustments in U.S. tariff policies in favor of the market, the Taiex and TSMC showed signs of a strong rebound, analysts said.

TSMC, which rolls out most of the high-end chips used in AI devices, benefited from the development as global cloud service providers such as Meta and Amazon geared up to invest in AI infrastructure and saw its shares repeatedly hit new highs, according to analysts.

In 2025, TSMC posted a record high NT$3.80 trillion in consolidated sales with its net income also smashing records to reach NT$1.72 trillion.

Citing strong AI demand and its technological lead in advanced manufacturing, TSMC has projected revenue growth of close to 30 percent in U.S. dollar terms for 2026, far outpacing the 14 percent growth expected for the global pure-play wafer foundry market.