Due to flatlining or even negative growth and rising expenses, profitability also decreased, with EPS of 1.31 down meaningfully from 1.82 last quarter. Gross and operating margins were in line with guidance but marked a sequential decline. TSMC reported Q1 results below the midpoint of its guidance. In my previous analysis ( TSMC Responds To Intel) I warned that TSM had just reported its last quarter of growth for the foreseeable future. Combined with the deteriorating financials, my thesis remains neutral, as the valuation remains reasonable. Overall, this means TSMC is rapidly losing its leadership position, which goes against the common current consensus as evidenced by the top comment on this recent article. It is even more reminiscent as my previous analysis had already indicated that TSMC's pace of following Moore's Law at N3 and N2 has almost completely halted, with a pace of shrinking that is even slower than Intel's 5-year cadence from 14nm to 10nm. This seems reminiscent to when around 2017 Intel ( INTC) started putting out presentations about its leadership (e.g., how its 10nm had 2x higher density than other 10nm nodes, however, the company neglected that its own 10nm was much later to market, instead competing against 7nm nodes). The company claims it will maintain leadership, but has nothing to back this up. TSMC ( NYSE: TSM) has gone in damage control mode.
0 kommentar(er)
