Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

TSMC Reports Q3 Earnings [pdf]

investor.tsmc.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 119 posts

Re: TSMC Reports Q3 Earnings [pdf]

#41

Post by sct202 »

Bayart wrote: post #36
sct202 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

NT$ = New Taiwan Dollar, the currency of Taiwan

I'm asking about the USD numbers, not the NTD numbers (although the question would be the same, mutatis mutandi ).

They convert NTD to nominal USD using the conversion rate during the financial period. For the income statement they say:

"Amounts in New Taiwan dollars have been translated into U.S. dollars at the weighted average rate of NTD 30.316 for the third quarter of 2022"

https://investor.tsmc.com/english/encrypt/files/encrypt_file...

Re: TSMC Reports Q3 Earnings [pdf]

#42

Post by TradingPlaces »

cgeier wrote: post #2

> Gross margin for the quarter was 60.4%, operating margin was 50.6%, and net profit margin was 45.8%. Still surprised how profitable TSMC is. Especially as this seems to be below the market expectations (their stock is still falling).

1. Guidance for next quarter was OK not great 2. Any time TSM reduces capital expenditures projections (-10%), that’s a siren.

Re: TSMC Reports Q3 Earnings [pdf]

#43

Post by chrsw »

breck wrote: post #24
mousetree wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

TSMC don't sell software products

Though perhaps you could say they sell derivatives of software products? I'm assuming they write the best custom chip design software and that's their biggest competitive advantage (and then operational excellence and savvy business maneuvering et cetera). Though I know nothing about them just guessing as an outsider.

TSMC doesn't really write chip design software. Maybe they do at some small level but that's not their bread and butter. TSMC provides IP engineers need to design chips to be built by TSMC. That IP is used by CAD tools from major players like Cadence, Synopsys and Mentor (now Siemens, I guess). TSMC's advantage is their superior chip fabrication technology and ability to scale.

Re: TSMC Reports Q3 Earnings [pdf]

#44

Post by victor106 »

nordsieck wrote: post #37
londons_explore wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a move part of the bigger world picture. A large chunk of experts see China as the likely next world superpower. The USA, current world superpower, probably can't prevent that happening, but they can make moves to delay it. This move might delay it happening by a few months. Combine with lots of other small moves, and the USA might get another few years of world superpower status, even if the moves hurt both cou…

> A large chunk of experts see China as the likely next world superpower. The USA, current world superpower, probably can't prevent that happening, but they can make moves to delay it. We'll see. Lots of people thought Japan would overtake the US as well, and that didn't exactly pan out. China has some real problems between the legacy of their one child policy and their current real estate investment crisis. It's cer…

I agree.

I was of the view that China could be the next super power and overtake the US.

But two things changed my view:-

1. COVID and their response to it. China still does not have a good vaccine and they still rely on lockdowns. That speaks a lot to how backward China is in basic sciences.

2. The move to remove term limits for the president. History tells us that one person can’t be relied on to make good long term decisions for a country specially a communist country.

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/03/11/592694991...

Re: TSMC Reports Q3 Earnings [pdf]

#45

Post by pweezy »

nordsieck wrote: post #37
londons_explore wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a move part of the bigger world picture. A large chunk of experts see China as the likely next world superpower. The USA, current world superpower, probably can't prevent that happening, but they can make moves to delay it. This move might delay it happening by a few months. Combine with lots of other small moves, and the USA might get another few years of world superpower status, even if the moves hurt both cou…

> A large chunk of experts see China as the likely next world superpower. The USA, current world superpower, probably can't prevent that happening, but they can make moves to delay it. We'll see. Lots of people thought Japan would overtake the US as well, and that didn't exactly pan out. China has some real problems between the legacy of their one child policy and their current real estate investment crisis. It's cer…

China overtaking the US seems a lot more likely based on sheer numbers. China’s population is over 4x larger than that of the US. So China “just” needs to reach a GDP per capita of 25% to have a larger economy than the US. This metric has been growing rapidly in the past decade or two and from a rough search, seems to currently stand around 17-18% of the US’s figure.

Of course GDP isn’t the only factor in world power status, but it sure is a big one.

Compared to the US, China also has a far larger labor force, a greater ability to manufacture things, and greater government control over its population.

Access to natural resources is similar for many things, less for some (like oil and gas) but greater for others (like rare earth minerals).

Re: TSMC Reports Q3 Earnings [pdf]

#46

Post by tiffanyh »

londons_explore wrote: post #29

When the world population is ~ 8 billion people, thats only a little over $2 per person spent at TSMC in Q3. Which really doesn't seem like much for the company that makes the most expensive part of gadgets nearly everyone has.

> most expensive part of gadgets nearly everyone has

I think that's where your assumption might be flawed. It's the most expensive part for PREMIUM offerings on the market that command high price points (e.g. iPhone, AMD Server chips, etc).

The everyday person, globally, can't afford such luxury items.

Re: TSMC Reports Q3 Earnings [pdf]

#47

Post by Seanambers »

photochemsyn wrote: post #28
sct202 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Their stock is falling because of future demand issues coming up with the whole semiconductor industry. Just this week, expanded export bans to China were announced and are an uncertainty on how much volume will be impacted in the future, because no one knows what will get an exemption or not.

The U.S. position on the entire Chinese semiconductor industry is getting increasingly ridiculous. It's not just chips, since China is the one country that's developed efficient monocrystalline silicon ingot production at scale, and solar panels made with that material are far superior to anything made in the USA currently. The USA's financialized short-term thinking has resulted in a failure to develop basic technol…

China just out subsidized all the competitors, so by removing them from the market, the market will realign and new production will come online.

Re: TSMC Reports Q3 Earnings [pdf]

#48

Post by newaccount2021 »

xiphias2 wrote: post #40
photochemsyn wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The U.S. position on the entire Chinese semiconductor industry is getting increasingly ridiculous. It's not just chips, since China is the one country that's developed efficient monocrystalline silicon ingot production at scale, and solar panels made with that material are far superior to anything made in the USA currently. The USA's financialized short-term thinking has resulted in a failure to develop basic technol…

It's everything but ridiculous. China is developing its military at incredible speed and currency wars usually lead to economic and then real wars. It's a terrible thing that none of us wants, but happens anyways.

[dead]

Re: TSMC Reports Q3 Earnings [pdf]

#49

Post by londons_explore »

pweezy wrote: post #45
nordsieck wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A large chunk of experts see China as the likely next world superpower. The USA, current world superpower, probably can't prevent that happening, but they can make moves to delay it. We'll see. Lots of people thought Japan would overtake the US as well, and that didn't exactly pan out. China has some real problems between the legacy of their one child policy and their current real estate investment crisis. It's cer…

China overtaking the US seems a lot more likely based on sheer numbers. China’s population is over 4x larger than that of the US. So China “just” needs to reach a GDP per capita of 25% to have a larger economy than the US. This metric has been growing rapidly in the past decade or two and from a rough search, seems to currently stand around 17-18% of the US’s figure. Of course GDP isn’t the only factor in world power…

> less for some (like oil and gas)

If worldwide carbon caps and tariffs become a thing, the oil and gas in the ground suddenly becomes nearly worthless if you can't use it.

Whereas China has a huge amount of not-good-for-much desert and mountains which could become a solar powerhouse.

Re: TSMC Reports Q3 Earnings [pdf]

#50

Post by photochemsyn »

xiphias2 wrote: post #40
photochemsyn wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The U.S. position on the entire Chinese semiconductor industry is getting increasingly ridiculous. It's not just chips, since China is the one country that's developed efficient monocrystalline silicon ingot production at scale, and solar panels made with that material are far superior to anything made in the USA currently. The USA's financialized short-term thinking has resulted in a failure to develop basic technol…

It's everything but ridiculous. China is developing its military at incredible speed and currency wars usually lead to economic and then real wars. It's a terrible thing that none of us wants, but happens anyways.

I imagine the Raytheon/Lockheed/etc. crowd does want increased military tensions with China to justify bloated MIC budgets into the foreseeable future, and of course that's one of the few manufacturing centers in the US that hasn't been heavily outsourced to sweatshop labor zones.

It's not very productive in the long run, however - for example, a tank is only 'economically productive' if your economic model is based largely on raiding other country's resources. A tractor, or construction crane, however gives added economic value because it can be used to improve agricultural production, build better infrastructure to facilitate trade, etc.

Post reply on HN