Level 1 - Absolute Beginner
TSMC is a very big company in Taiwan. It makes computer chips. On October 15, it shared its results for the last three months.
The company made a record profit. Its profit was 68.7 percent higher than one year ago.
TSMC makes many chips for artificial intelligence. People want more of these chips, so the company is growing fast.
- chip
- a very small part inside a computer
- profit
- money left after paying costs
- record
- the best ever
- company
- a business
- result
- the final numbers or outcome
- artificial intelligence
- computer systems that can learn
- growing
- getting bigger
- percent
- a part of 100
Level 2 - Elementary
On October 15, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, known as TSMC, reported its third quarter results. Net income reached 763.06 billion Taiwan dollars, a new record and about 68.7 percent more than a year earlier.
Revenue was 1,494.24 billion Taiwan dollars, up 17.6 percent from the second quarter. Analysts had expected a profit of about 740.8 billion, so the company beat their forecast.
TSMC makes advanced chips for many technology companies, and demand for artificial intelligence hardware is strong. For the next quarter, the company expects revenue between 52.3 and 54.3 billion US dollars.
- quarter
- a period of three months
- net income
- profit after all costs and taxes
- revenue
- money a company earns from sales
- analyst
- an expert who studies companies
- forecast
- a guess about the future
- advanced
- very modern
- demand
- how much people want something
- hardware
- physical machines and parts
Level 3 - Intermediate
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company posted record third quarter earnings on October 15. Net income climbed to NT$763.06 billion, with diluted earnings per share of NT$29.43, or about US$4.60 per American depositary receipt. Profit rose roughly 68.7 percent from a year earlier and 8 percent from the previous quarter.
Revenue of NT$1,494.24 billion was up about 51 percent on the year and 17.6 percent on the quarter. Margins were remarkable for a manufacturer: gross margin reached 66.4 percent, operating margin 58.7 percent and net margin 51.1 percent. Analysts surveyed by LSEG had expected profit of about NT$740.8 billion.
Investors treat TSMC as a barometer of the artificial intelligence boom, because it fabricates advanced processors for many of the world's best known chip designers. The company guided to fourth quarter revenue of between US$52.3 billion and US$54.3 billion, suggesting the surge in orders has not yet peaked.
- diluted
- adjusted to count all possible shares
- depositary receipt
- a certificate that lets investors buy foreign shares
- margin
- profit as a share of sales
- barometer
- something that measures a trend
- fabricate
- to manufacture
- guide
- to give a company's own forecast
- surge
- a sudden strong rise
- peak
- to reach the highest point
Level 4 - Advanced
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company delivered another record quarter on October 15, reporting net income of NT$763.06 billion, diluted earnings of NT$29.43 per share, and revenue of NT$1,494.24 billion. Profit grew roughly 68.7 percent year on year and 8 percent sequentially, comfortably overshooting the NT$740.8 billion consensus compiled by LSEG.
The margin structure is what distinguishes the result. A gross margin of 66.4 percent, an operating margin of 58.7 percent and a net margin of 51.1 percent are figures more commonly associated with software franchises than with capital intensive foundries, and they testify to the pricing power TSMC wields as the dominant maker of leading edge processors.
The company guided to fourth quarter revenue of between US$52.3 billion and US$54.3 billion, signalling that the appetite for artificial intelligence hardware shows little sign of abating. Yet the same concentration that flatters the results also concentrates risk: a business so central to the AI supply chain is acutely exposed to any retrenchment in customer spending, to geopolitical tension around Taiwan, and to the enormous capital outlays required to stay ahead.
- sequentially
- compared with the previous period
- consensus
- the average view of analysts
- foundry
- a factory that makes chips for other firms
- testify to
- to be evidence of
- wield
- to hold and use power
- abate
- to become less intense
- retrenchment
- a cutback in spending
- outlay
- money spent on something
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