TSMC Reports Slower Sales Growth in October, Raises AI Demand Concerns
TSMC's October sales growth rate significantly slowed down compared to September, marking the lowest growth rate since February this year, and its year-to-date sales growth has also slightly decreased.
On November 8th, local time, TSMC announced its sales figures for October. The October sales amounted to 314.24 billion New Taiwan dollars, a year-on-year increase of 29.2% and a month-on-month increase of 24.8%. In September, TSMC's sales grew by nearly 40% year-on-year. Prior to that, from March to September, the company's sales growth rate exceeded 30% every month.
So far this year, TSMC's total sales have reached 2.34 trillion New Taiwan dollars, a 31.5% increase compared to the same period last year, which is slightly lower than the 31.9% increase from January to September. Analysts predict that the chipmaker's sales will grow by 36.1% in the three months ending in December.
There are also voices pointed out that TSMC's October sales data has raised concerns about the durability of demand for AI chips.
After the revenue data was announced, TSMC's U.S. stocks rose by more than 3% in the after-hours trading.
In the third quarter of this year, TSMC's performance was impressive, indicating that demand for AI remains strong. However, the company warned at the time that demand for chips in other industries was weakening, especially in personal computers, smartphones, and consumer electronics, with little sign of improvement.
Earlier today, TSMC stated in an email statement: Our investment plans in the United States remain unchanged.
As the world's largest semiconductor foundry, TSMC is a major supplier to companies such as Apple and Nvidia and is currently investing $65 billion to establish a new factory in Arizona.
As investors' concerns about the true commercial potential of AI and the increase in production warm up, the market's attention to TSMC's monthly sales figures is growing. So far this year, TSMC's stock price has risen by more than 80%.