TSMC reports highest sales ever for February

Taipei, March 8 (CNA) Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world's largest contract chipmaker, has reported its highest sales ever for February, though revenue for the month was still more than 15 percent below the total in January.

The company posted consolidated sales of NT$181.65 billion (US$5.77 billion) in February, up 11.3 percent from a year earlier but down 15.8 percent from a month earlier, according to financial data released by TSMC on Friday.

Analysts said the year-over-year sales increase reflected solid demand for artificial intelligence applications that need TSMC's high-end processes.

The month-on-month decline was due to seasonal factors as a long Lunar New Year holiday cut short the number of working days in February.

In the first two months of the year, TSMC generated consolidated sales of NT$397.43 billion, up 9.4 percent from a year earlier.

At an investor conference held in mid-January, TSMC expected its first quarter sales to range between US$18.0 billion and US$18.8 billion, or NT$559.8 billion and NT$584.68 billion, with the median figure down 6.2 percent from a quarter earlier due to slow season effects.

TSMC said demand for AI and high performance computing devices (HPC) should push up shipments of high-end chips, helping the chipmaker mitigate slow season effects in the January-March quarter, and analysts expected TSMC to hit the quarter's sales target.

For the year as a whole, TSMC said its sales should grow 21-26 percent due to strong demand for AI applications, rebounding from a slower 2023, when its sales fell 4.5 percent from a year earlier to NT$2.16 trillion.

According to TSMC, the advanced 3 nanometer process, its most advanced technology currently in commercial production, is expected to account for 15 percent of the company's total sales in 2024.