TSMC's stock price hit a historic high during trading on Tuesday (December 24th), surpassing the closing record high set in November. This world's largest foundry chip manufacturer is expected to achieve its best annual performance in 25 years.
On Tuesday, TSMC Radio's stock rose 1.4% to NT $1095, briefly surpassing the peak set on November 8th, but it gave up some of its gains at the end of the day, closing at the same price as the previous day.
Previously, US chip stocks, including major client Nvidia, rose overnight, while the tech dominated Nasdaq Composite Index rose nearly 1%.
Due to the sustained enthusiasm of investors for artificial intelligence trading, TSMC's stock price has risen by over 82% this year.
Analysis suggests that this shift is due to the increasing demand for TSMC's exposure in the global market, as the chip manufacturer continues to play a key role in semiconductor and artificial intelligence suppliers. In addition to Nvidia, its customer list also includes Apple and AMD.
TSMC has always been a major beneficiary of artificial intelligence spending, with advanced process technology being its biggest strength. The company expects a 36% increase in sales for the December quarter, with a gross profit margin of 58.3%, the highest quarterly level since 2022.
Kevin Net, head of Asian stocks at French asset management firm Financiere de L Echiquier, said, "For us, TSMC remains the best way to invest in artificial intelligence themes, without the need to pick winners or technologies, and with a reasonable valuation
He added that the next catalyst worth noting will be Nvidia's presentation at CES 2025 next month, as well as TSMC's upcoming performance and guidance.
Of course, TSMC's rise also relies on the market's optimistic view of the accelerated development of AI. Although some market participants currently believe that the returns of artificial intelligence model training methods are decreasing, the recent release of OpenAI's O3 model is seen as evidence that "the progress of artificial intelligence expansion has not hit a wall".
Jack Clark, co-founder of OpenAI's main competitor Anthropic, also stated in a blog post on Monday (December 23) that O3 proves that the progress of artificial intelligence will be faster in 2025 than in 2024.