TSMC Q1 net profit hits record high

Taipei, April 16 (CNA) Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) on Thursday reported a new high in net profit for the first quarter of this year, up over 58 percent from a year earlier, with market analysts attributing the growth to the current AI boom.

Before an investor conference began, the world's largest contract chipmaker said in a statement that it posted NT$572.48 billion (US$18.15 billion) in net profit during the January-March period, up 58.3 percent from a year earlier and up 13.2 percent from a quarter earlier.

Its earnings per share for the first quarter stood at NT$22.08, compared with NT$13.94 a year earlier and NT$19.50 a quarter earlier, the company said.

In the first quarter, TSMC generated US$35.9 billion in consolidated sales.

In Taiwan dollar terms, the first quarter revenue hit a new high of NT$1.13 trillion, up 35.1 percent from a year earlier and up 8.4 percent from a quarter earlier.

TSMC said its gross margin -- the difference between revenue and cost of goods sold -- stood at 66.2 percent in the first quarter.

TSMC said sales generated from its high-performance computing division rose 20 percent from a quarter earlier in the first quarter, revenue posted in its Internet of Things platform rose 12 percent, and sales recorded in its consumer electronics division also rose 28 percent, indicating the three platforms served as the main driver of its overall sales.

In the first quarter, TSMC said, chips using its 3-nanometer process accounted for 25 percent of its total sales, the 5nm process made up 36 percent, and the 7nm process represented an additional 13 percent.

In other words, the three advanced technologies accounted for 74 percent of its total sales in the three months.