Technology: Chip-ready TSMC with record profits thanks to AI demand

Taipei. The world's largest chip contract manufacturer TSMC set another profit record in the third quarter and earned more than experts expected.

The surge in orders for AI data centers caused profits to rise by over two thirds year-on-year to a good 763 billion Taiwan dollars (around 21 billion euros), as the company announced. As already known, sales in the three-month period climbed by 51 percent to 1.49 trillion Taiwan dollars.

TSMC produces chips for the chip giants Nvidia and AMD as well as for Apple, among others. The company is also confident about the outlook.

In the current fourth quarter, the Taiwanese company is targeting a gross margin of 65 to 67 percent, which is in line with market expectations. In the third quarter, 66.4 percent of sales remained as gross profit after manufacturing costs. Administrative and sales costs are excluded. With sales of 52.3 to 54.3 billion US dollars (up to 48.6 billion euros), TSMC is aiming for slightly more than experts thought.

The group has recently benefited in particular from the flood of orders resulting from the expansion of AI data centers, especially in the USA. TSMC is expanding capacity and plans to invest up to $64 billion in new facilities this year. Currently, TSMC is working on building or renovating 20 factories at the same time.