By Kosaku Narioka
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s shares rose sharply after the company projected strong revenue growth this year following a sales slump in 2023.
The shares were recently 4.6% higher at 615.00 New Taiwan dollars after rising as much as 6.3% earlier Friday morning.
TSMC Chief Executive C.C. Wei said Thursday following the announcement of fourth-quarter results that revenue is poised to rise more than 20% in U.S. dollar terms this year. Wei named artificial intelligence as the company’s growth driver, saying AI-related revenue is expected to account for nearly one-fifth of the company’s total revenue within a few years.
Revenue dropped 8.7% in 2023 to US$69.30 billion. The chip maker has been facing a sales slump as clients cut back on their inventory following a pandemic-driven surge in demand for chips used in electronics equipment.
TSMC said net profit dropped 19% from a year earlier to 238.71 billion New Taiwan dollars (US$7.57 billion) for the three months ended Dec. 31. That beat the estimate of NT$224.67 billion in a poll of analysts by S&P Global Market Intelligence.
The world’s largest contract chip maker expects capital expenditure in 2024 to be between US$28 billion and US$32 billion, compared with the US$30.45 billion it spent in 2023.
Write to Kosaku Narioka at kosaku.narioka@wsj.com