It is good to see him back on the call. I will do a more detailed analysis of the call this weekend but lets talk about it here in preparation:
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's (TSM) CEO Mark Liu on Q4 2015 Results - Earnings Call Transcript | Seeking Alpha
TSMC (TSM +4.1%) is above $21 after beating Q4 EPS estimates (revenue was already known via monthly sales reports) and guiding for Q1 revenue of NT$198B-NT$201B ($5.94B-$6.03B), in-line with an NT$200.2B consensus. Soft smartphone demand and reports of iPhone sales weakness/order cuts had led to low expectations - TSMC is both directly exposed to Apple via A-series CPU manufacturing, and indirectly exposed via manufacturing work for Apple chip suppliers.
The world's biggest chip foundry also set a 2016 capex budget of $9B-$10B, higher than 2015 capex of $8.12B. TSMC plans to ramp production for its 16nm FinFET process this year, and begin volume production for its 10nm process by year's end.
Q4 details: Gross margin fell rose 40 bps Q/Q and fell 110 bps Y/Y to 48.6%, and was in-line with guidance of 47.5%-49.5%. Q1 GM guidance is at 47%-49%. 16/20nm chips were 24% of wafer revenue, and 28nm chips 25%. That respectively compares with 21% and 27% in Q3.
TSMC's commentary remains subdued. Chairman Morris Chang: "I had expected the first quarter to be stronger than what we’re forecasting now. I am not repeating my pledge, my prediction, that ’17, ’18, ’19 will continue to grow at 10 percent." CFO Lora Ho: "While China's smartphone market shows signs of recovery, customers remain cautious in general."
Smaller rival UMC (UMC +2.7%) is also up.
TSMC's Q4 results, earnings release
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's (TSM) CEO Mark Liu on Q4 2015 Results - Earnings Call Transcript | Seeking Alpha
TSMC (TSM +4.1%) is above $21 after beating Q4 EPS estimates (revenue was already known via monthly sales reports) and guiding for Q1 revenue of NT$198B-NT$201B ($5.94B-$6.03B), in-line with an NT$200.2B consensus. Soft smartphone demand and reports of iPhone sales weakness/order cuts had led to low expectations - TSMC is both directly exposed to Apple via A-series CPU manufacturing, and indirectly exposed via manufacturing work for Apple chip suppliers.
The world's biggest chip foundry also set a 2016 capex budget of $9B-$10B, higher than 2015 capex of $8.12B. TSMC plans to ramp production for its 16nm FinFET process this year, and begin volume production for its 10nm process by year's end.
Q4 details: Gross margin fell rose 40 bps Q/Q and fell 110 bps Y/Y to 48.6%, and was in-line with guidance of 47.5%-49.5%. Q1 GM guidance is at 47%-49%. 16/20nm chips were 24% of wafer revenue, and 28nm chips 25%. That respectively compares with 21% and 27% in Q3.
TSMC's commentary remains subdued. Chairman Morris Chang: "I had expected the first quarter to be stronger than what we’re forecasting now. I am not repeating my pledge, my prediction, that ’17, ’18, ’19 will continue to grow at 10 percent." CFO Lora Ho: "While China's smartphone market shows signs of recovery, customers remain cautious in general."
Smaller rival UMC (UMC +2.7%) is also up.
TSMC's Q4 results, earnings release
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