Shares of Taiwan’s largest company soared by 7.9%, increasing its capitalization to $575 billion.
According to Bloomberg, the additional $42 billion was enough to overtake Visa and take 12th place in the ranking of the world’s most expensive companies. The biggest gain for TSMC in more than a year came after Morgan Stanley raised its target price for the chipmaker by about 9%.
TSMC last week reported a 7.9% rise in January sales, offering the latest sign of a long-awaited recovery in global consumer electronics demand.
At the same time, investors continue to pay attention to companies that are expected to lead the wave of activity in AI development, which accelerated after OpenAI deployed ChatGPT. Meanwhile, Nvidia’s market capitalization grew to about $1.82 trillion, surpassing Amazon and Alphabet.
«Taiwan’s been driven by tech, especially the AI theme», — said Xin-Yao Ng, an investment director for Asian equities at abrdn. «Nvidia has been a catalyst adding on to the sentiment, after Jensen Huang visited Taiwan, boosting investors’ appetite for AI value chain plays and Nvidia suppliers».
In January, TSMC executives said they expected a return to steady growth this quarter and announced an increase in capital spending in 2024, meaning the world’s most expensive chipmaker expects demand for smartphones and computers to recover.