TSMC released its April financial report on May 9th, showing that its revenue for the month reached NT $349.6 billion (approximately US $11.6 billion), an increase of 22.2% compared to the previous month and 48.1% compared to the same period last year, setting a new historical high for a single month. The cumulative revenue from January to April this year was NT $1188.8 billion, a year-on-year increase of 43.5%, reaching a new high for the same period in previous years.
The analysis points out that this highlights the trend of electronic companies rushing to purchase key components before global tariffs take effect.
Benefiting from strong customer demand for 5nm and 3nm repeat orders, TSMC announced last month that its consolidated revenue for the second quarter is expected to be between $28.4 billion and $292 billion, with a median quarterly increase of approximately 12.75%, better than market expectations. Assuming an exchange rate of 1 US dollar to 32.5 New Taiwan dollars, the estimated gross profit margin is expected to be between 57% and 59%, and the operating profit margin is expected to be around 47% to 49%, maintaining a high-end level.
However, the recent surge in the New Taiwan Dollar may put pressure on TSMC's future profit margins, as most of TSMC's business is conducted in US dollars. TSMC has stated that for every 1% appreciation of the New Taiwan Dollar, its operating profit margin will decrease by 0.4 percentage points.
Analysts point out that the plan proposed by the Trump administration to revoke the Biden era rules on the diffusion of artificial intelligence provides a brief window for broader shipments of AI chips, which will directly benefit TSMC (whose 20% of sales come from AI chip production). However, long-term uncertainty still exists before the upcoming new and stricter export control measures are introduced.
