TSMC profit highest in 2 years as high-tech chip sales swell

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By Ben Blanchard and Sarah Wu

TAIPEI (Reuters) -Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC posted an 80% surge in third-quarter net profit on Thursday, its strongest growth in two years, boosted by strong sales of its advanced chips used in data centres and electric cars.

TSMC's business has swelled thanks to a global chip shortage that was sparked by pandemic-fuelled sales of smartphones and laptops. While the shortage has eased and companies including AMD and Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU) have warned of weakening demand, analysts say TSMC's dominance in making some of the world's most advanced chips has kept its order book full.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC), the world's largest contract chipmaker and a major Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) supplier, said net profit for the July-September period rose to T$280.9 billion ($8.81 billion), compared with the T$265.64 billion average of 21 analyst estimates compiled by Refinitiv.

Revenue for the quarter climbed 36% to $20.23 billion, versus TSMC's prior estimated range of $19.8 billion to $20.6 billion.

Shares in TSMC have fallen almost 36% so far this year, giving it a market value of $323.7 billion. The stock fell 0.6% on Thursday, compared with a 2.1% fall for the benchmark index.

TSMC has said it has seen little impact from the current down cycle in the chip sector and expected its capacity to remain tight because long-term demand for TSMC's chips was "firmly in place".

The company, Asia's most valuable listed firm, whose clients also include chip majors such as Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) Inc, has repeatedly said its business would continue to be boosted by a "mega-trend" in the industry, brought about by demand for high-performance computing chips for 5G networks and data centers, as well as increased use of chips in gadgets and vehicles.

($1 = 31.8870 Taiwan dollars)