TSMC's FY18 revenue increased by 5.5% YoY and reached NTD1.03tn

Wafer foundry leader TSMC (2330-TW) announced its Dec18 revenue today on January 10th. Its Dec18 revenue reached NTD89.83bn (-8.7% MoM, -0.1% YoY), hitting a five-month low. Its 4Q18 revenue was NTD289.77bn (+11.3% QoQ, +4.4% YoY). Its FY18 revenue reached NTD1.03tn (+5.5% YoY), exceeding 1 trillion for the first time.

According to TSMC, denominating in USD, its 4Q18 revenue is expected to reach USD93.5-94.50bn (+10-11% QoQ). Based on the assumption of exchange rate of NTD30.80/USD, its 4Q18 revenue may reach NTD28.80-29.11bn (+11-12% QoQ).

TSMC’s 4Q18 revenue was catalyzed by the shipment of 7nm process products. Most of them came from Apple"s iPhone, boosting the shipments of A12 chip. However, due to the poor sales of Apple"s new iPhones, TSMC’s 4Q18 operating performance was capped and fell into low end of the range.

However, catalyzed by the overall smart phone, high performance computing (HPC) and the demand of crypto mining chips in 1H18, TSMC’s FY18 revenue reached NTD1.03tn (+5.5% YoY), setting a new record high and exceeding 1 trillion for the first time. Nevertheless, TSMC has cut its revenue guidance for three times in FY18 from +10-15% to a US-based  +6-7%, reflecting the decline of crypto mining demand, as well as the sales momentum of smart phone.