TAIPEI (Reuters) -Taiwan chip giant TSMC posted a 13.8% jump in third quarter profit on Thursday on the back of booming demand for semiconductors to power smartphones and other gadgets during the COVID-19 pandemic amid a supply crunch.
July-September net profit for TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker and a key supplier to Apple Inc, came in at T$156.3 billion ($5.56 billion), well ahead of the T$149 billion average of 22 analyst estimates compiled by Refinitiv.
Advanced chips made by TSMC, formally known as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, are used in everything from high-end smartphones like Apple’s newly unveiled 5G iPhone 13, to artificial intelligence, cars and a wide variety of lower-end consumer goods.
TSMC and Taiwan in general have also become central in efforts to resolve a pandemic-induced global chip shortage that has forced automakers to cut production, and hurt manufacturers of smartphones, laptops and even consumer appliances.
TSMC’s revenue for the quarter climbed 22.6% to $14.88 billion, in line with the company’s prior estimated range of $14.6 billion to $14.9 billion.
Shares of TSMC have risen about 8.5% so far this year, giving it a market value of $526.3 billion, more than double that of competitor and client Intel Corp.
($1 = 28.0950 Taiwan dollars)
(Reporting by Yimou Lee and Ben Blanchard; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Ana Nicolaci da Costa)
