EQUITIES
TAIEX closes above 12,200
The TAIEX yesterday rose 1.14 percent to close above 12,200 points, helped by gains on US markets on Friday amid optimism over the development of drugs to fight COVID-19. Interest focused on the technology sector led by semiconductor stocks, in particular contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), but buying also spread to select old-economy stocks with sizeable property assets, dealers said. The TAIEX ended up 137.88 points at 12,211.56. Turnover was NT$209.252 billion (US$7.07 billion). Foreign institutional investors bought a net NT$4.38 billion of shares, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said.
SEMICONDUCTORS
TSMC stock at new high
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC) market capitalization continued to rise yesterday, after the company last week reported record-high revenue for last month. Shares of TSMC rose 1.72 percent to close at the day’s high of NT$354.5, vaulting the stock’s market cap to a new high of NT$9.19 trillion. TSMC on Friday reported consolidated sales of NT$120.88 billion for last month, up 28.8 percent from a month earlier and 40.8 percent from a year earlier. TSMC remains a favorite among foreign institutional investors, who bought a net 111.71 million of the company’s shares in the nine trading sessions prior to yesterday.
LISTED COMPANIES
Revenue increases 6.05%
Publicly listed companies reported combined revenue of NT$2.72 trillion for last month, up 6.05 percent from a year earlier, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said yesterday. A total of 425 companies experienced revenue growth, while 519 firms experienced declines in revenue, the stock exchange said. The main sectors reporting revenue growth last month were the building materials and construction, finance and insurance, and semiconductor sectors, while the tourism, oil, gas and electricity, and shipping and transportation sectors reported declines in revenue, the exchange said. In the first half of the year, all listed companies reported combined revenue of NT$14.68 trillion, down 3.3 percent year-on-year.
E-COMMERCE
Retailers break records
PChome Online Inc (網路家庭) and Momo.com Inc (富邦媒體) announced record-high revenue for last month. The two e-commerce companies are rolling out summer promotions such as flash sales, discounts and cash-back programs. Last month, PChome made NT$3.59 billion in revenue, a 20.76 percent increase from a year earlier. Revenue for the first half of the year rose 16.33 percent year-on-year to NT$20.97 billion, the company said on Friday. Momo.com’s revenue increased 35.5 percent annually to NT$5.47 billion last month, and revenue for the first half of the year reached NT$30.9 billion, up 31.4 percent year-on-year and also a record high.
MACROECONOMICS
Paper vouchers popular
As of Sunday, about 10.35 million people had applied for government’s Triple Stimulus Vouchers in paper form since orders began on July 1, data compiled by the Ministry of Economic Affairs showed. The government has commissioned the Central Engraving and Printing Plant to print the vouchers, and the number of paper vouchers is expected to reach 17 million on Monday next week. The government is prepared for the high demand, Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) said yesterday.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”