TSMC, the world’s largest chipmaker, posts record 2024 revenue as it continues to boost AI

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company December quarter revenue topped analysts’ estimates as the company continues to get a boost from the AI ​​boom.

The world’s largest chipmaker reported fourth-quarter revenue of 868.5 billion New Taiwan dollars ($26.3 billion), up 38.8% year-on-year, according to CNBC calculations.

This beat the Refinitiv consensus estimate of 850.1 billion New Taiwan dollars.

In 2024, TSMC’s revenues will total 2.9 trillion New Taiwan dollars, its highest annual sales since going public in 1994.

Makes semiconductors for some of the world’s largest companies, including TSMC Apple And NVIDIA,

TSMC is viewed as the most advanced chip maker in the world, given its ability to produce leading-edge semiconductors. The company has been helped by strong demand for AI chips, particularly from Nvidia, as well as continued improvements in smartphone semiconductors.

“TSMC has benefited greatly from strong demand for AI,” Brady Wang, associate director of Counterpoint Research, told CNBC.

Wang said that “capacity utilization” for TSMC’s 3 nanometer and 5 nanometer processes — the most advanced chips — “has consistently exceeded 100%.”

AI graphics processing units (GPUs), such as those designed by Nvidia, and other artificial intelligence chips are driving this demand, Wang said.

TSMC’s Taiwan-listed shares have risen 88% in the past 12 months.

TSMC’s latest sales figures may also give investors hope that demand for artificial intelligence chips and services may continue through 2025.

Foxconnwho assembles Apple’s iPhones, reported Highest fourth quarter revenue ever This week, as it saw strong demand for AI servers.

During this time, Microsoft This month said that it There is a plan to spend 80 billion dollars By June in its financial year, work will be done on building data centers that can handle artificial intelligence workloads.

CNBC’s Jordan Novet contributed to this report.