TSMC reports first profit decline in four years amid global economic challenges, delays...

[midian182]

What just happened? Taiwanese chip giant TSMC had an unwelcome statistic in its second-quarter earnings report: the company's first profit decline in four years. It comes as global smartphone and PC shipments slump, the result of a shaky economy, mass job layoffs, and cautious consumer spending.

TSMC reported net earnings of NT$181.8 billion ($5.85 billion) during the second quarter, down 23% compared to the same period one year earlier. Revenue was also down YoY, by 10% to NT$480 billion ($15.68 billion). Despite seeing an annual decrease, revenue and net income still beat market expectations.

The last time TSMC saw its quarterly net income decline was in the second quarter of 2019.

As expected, the company blames macroeconomic headwinds and rising inflation, "which dampened the end market demand, and led to customers' ongoing inventory adjustment," for impacting its business. Falling demand for the likes of cars and servers is also having an effect, as is the chip war between China and the US.

The meteoric rise of generative AI, which has turned Nvidia into a trillion-dollar company this year, doesn't appear to be helping TSMC a great deal, even though it makes Nvidia's AI chips. The company has revised a previous decline in sales for 2023 from a single-digit figure to 10%.

TSMC previously estimated that its investment spending for the year would be between $32-36 billion. The company now says it will be at the lower end of that estimate. It also confirmed that the anticipated start of N4 production at its troubled Arizona fab has been pushed back to 2025, partly due to a shortage of skilled workers. Its second fab plant, which will bring the 3nm manufacturing process to the US, is set to start production in 2026.

Earlier this month, TSMC was forced to assure the thousands of workers at its Arizona plant that their jobs and wages were safe following news that the company plans to bring in more employees from its home country of Taiwan to speed up construction.

TSMC does expect to see some improvements in Q3, with revenue increasing QoQ to between $16.7 billion and $17.5 billion, helped by demand for its 3nm tech and partially offset by "customers' continued inventory adjustment." That figure is still lower than market expectations, though.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/99469-tsmc-reports-first-profit-decline-four-years-amid.html

 

[Neatfeatguy]

You only made billions of dollars compared to the last quarter where you....also made billions of dollars.

Let me get you a tissue:

 

[wiyosaya]

Typical of Corporations. Blame everything and everyone else for "decreasing profits."

 

[Porkous]

This is troublesome. TSMC is a company that cultivated it's profits into R&D investments. If it would see that the investments in it's expansion were too high, this would get reflected in what the global market sentiment is. Getting contracted and imploding with everyone else (Intel, AMD, Nvidia).

It's like a bad omen. Each tiny conflict culminating and stressing at a bigger scale toward a bigger deal.

I wish politics would stay out of it, because it is the leaders who can steer the hack out of this cumulative stress that is going with the supposed economy.

No revolution is happening to keep turning the wheel, so it would slow down and the masses would get unsettled. It starts from the top until each tiny piece is eroding as well.

 

[Mr Majestyk]

Maybe their mercenary price rises are also taking there toll. I hope they get smashed.