TSMC's market cap rises to 9th highest in world

[Daniel Nenni]

CNA photo

Taipei, Dec. 8 (CNA) The market capitalization of contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) rose to ninth in the world after its American depositary receipts (ADRs) scored solid gains overnight.

TSMC's market cap hit US$551.75 billion after its ADRs rose US$2.66 or 2.56 percent to close at a new high of US$106.39 in the United States, passing investment conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway Inc., which is managed by investment guru Warren Buffett, to take the ninth spot.

After the U.S. markets closed, the market cap of Berkshire Hathaway stood at US$537.30 billion.

In addition, strong buying amid optimism toward its business prospects has brought TSMC's market cap closer to electric car brand Tesla Inc., which had a market cap of US$608.33 billion, the world's eighth highest.

After the solid gains in ADRs overnight, TSMC shares on the Taiwan Stock Exchange rose Tuesday, extending momentum from a recent strong showing as investors who have been convinced by the chipmaker's sound fundamentals scrambled to pick up the stock.

As of 11:45 a.m., TSMC shares, the most heavily weighted stock on the local market, had gained 1.17 percent to NT$520.00 (US$18.37) on the local main board, where the benchmark weighted index, or the Taiex, was up 0.49 percent at 14,325.76 points. The stock hit a historic closing high of NT$514.00 on Monday.

Since the beginning of this year, TSMC shares had soared about 55.3 percent as of Monday, pushing up the Taiex by almost 19 percent to a new closing high of 14,256.60.
A U.S. brokerage has raised its target price on TSMC shares from NT$561 to NT$607, while leaving a "buy" rating on the stock unchanged. The American securities house expressed optimism at TSMC's efforts to develop the advanced 5 nanometer process and secure a higher share of the global market.

The brokerage said TSMC's 5nm process has been in great demand in the wake of rising demand for emerging technologies such as 5G applications, high performance computing devices and artificial intelligence.

The 5nm process is TSMC's latest technology to go into mass production since the second quarter of this year. In the third quarter, the process accounted for about 8 percent of total sales.

In addition, analysts said TSMC is benefiting from a move by Apple Inc. to release the self-developed M1 processor for production of the Mac series as the Taiwanese chipmaker serves as a contract maker for the device.

In addition, Apple is expected to launch new processors next year for Mac production, and TSMC, which leads its peers in high-end technology development, is expected to secure orders, analysts said.

TSMC's market cap rises to 9th highest in world - Focus Taiwan

The market capitalization of contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) rose to ninth in the world after its American depositary receipts (ADRs) scored solid gains overnight.

focustaiwan.tw

 

[Arthur Hanson]

More than a company, Morris Chang built a culture. Culture wins over the typical MBA type business structure every time for it's built on passion first and dollars second. When Andy Grove left, that was the beginning of the end of Intel dominance.

 

[Daniel Nenni]

More than a company, Morris Chang built a culture. Culture wins over the typical MBA type business structure every time for it's built on passion first and dollars second. When Andy Grove left, that was the beginning of the end of Intel dominance.

While I agree about Morris but I think CC Wei (TSMC CEO) is an excellent leader for this era of semiconductors. He truly is an unsung hero of the fabless semiconductor ecosystem, absolutely.

 

[count]

I've been a holder of TSMC shares for many years now and needless to say pretty happy. It's also interesting how many American investors know nothing about TSMC, in spite of it being one of the largest companies in the entire world.

 

[benb]

TSM is an important bellwether stock. It points the way for the whole semiconductor industry, which has been doing especially well during the pandemic, as work from home and online businesses replace bricks and mortar businesses due to social distancing.
As we enter the endgame of the pandemic, I’m hopeful the recovery will also be good for semiconductor businesses, but is that really a reasonable hope? If the pandemic created extra demand, the ending of the pandemic should end that demand, logically.
I recall the boom in 1998 and 1999, the IT replacement cycle due to Y2K, and the bust of the early 2000s.
Hoping I’m wrong, but still, new highs in cyclical stocks worry me. And the saying is ”be fearful when others are greedy”.