Why Taiwan Semiconductor Stock Popped Today

This morning, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSM), a significant contract semiconductor manufacturer situated near the coast of mainland China, announced impressive Q2 earnings. As a result, its shares increased by 3.3% by 11:40 a.m. ET.

For the quarter, TSMC surpassed expectations by reporting $2.47 per American depository receipt, compared to the forecasted $2.28. This exceeded the prediction significantly. The company also reported sales of NT$933.8 billion, equivalent to approximately $30.1 billion.

TSMC Q2 earnings

In a year-over-year comparison, Q2 sales increased by 38.6%, however, this figure jumps to 44.4% when considering USD terms. Notably, the company’s net profits experienced an even more substantial growth, expanding by 60.7%. The company highlighted that its gross profit margin for the quarter stood at 58.6%, operating margin was 49.6%, and the net margin reached 42.7%.

Last year vs this year, sales went up by 38.6% but if we convert to USD, it’s a 44.4% increase. However, what really stands out is that our net profits grew at an impressive rate of 60.7%. We also want to draw attention to the fact that our gross profit margin for this quarter was 58.6%, operating margin was 49.6%, and our net margin ended up being 42.7%.

Company CFO Wendell Huang attributed the sales increase primarily to ongoing strong demand in the areas of artificial intelligence and high-performance computing, and he pointed out that an impressive 74% of the company’s earnings stemmed from the sale of sophisticated semiconductor wafers, which include chips measuring 7 nanometers or less.

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Is TSMC stock a buy?

According to their projections, TSMC anticipates earning revenue between $31.8 billion and $33 billion during the third quarter, with a gross margin expected to be within the range of 55.5% to 57.5%, and operating margins projected to fall between 45.5% and 47.5%.

Although investors appear content with the figures (they’re purchasing rather than offloading), this might not be entirely positive news. TSMC generated $23.9 billion in Q3 revenue last year, so even hitting $33 billion in sales would represent “just” a 38% year-on-year growth rate – a slightly slower increase compared to Q2, even at the top end of their projected range. Additionally, the predictions for both gross and operating margins suggest a sequential decrease in profitability moving forward.

Despite a P/E ratio of 22.5 and continuous strong sales growth, it’s challenging to view TSMC stock as anything other than a “purchase opportunity.”

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2025-07-17 23:58