World-leading microchip foundry Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company flew to an all-time-high share price of 1,010 new Taiwan dollars (244p/US$31.12) on Thursday.
It brings TSMC’s year-to-date rally to 70% thanks to an insatiable demand for high-spec artificial intelligence-optimised microchips.
TSMC is the world’s largest and most sophisticated manufacturer (colloquially known in the sector as a foundry) of microchips.
Microchip demand has skyrocketed in recent years as a new wave of cutting-edge designs, primarily from AI powerhouse Nvidia Corp, have come to market.
These chips underpin the large-scale data centres that facilitate the intense processing requirements of AI applications such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT large-language model.
Analysts do not expect chip demand to slow down any time soon, with a recent Bloomberg poll predicting a 36% revenue growth rate in TSMC’s second quarter- the fastest pace of growth since the last quarter of 2022.
TSMC’s share price rally puts its market capitalisation as the eighth-largest globally among listed companies, in front of Berkshire Hathaway but below Facebook parent Meta.
It is currently worth just shy of US$950 billion.
ASML to the fore
TSMC is not the only AI pick and shovel to hit all-time highs recently.
Dutch tech giant ASML, which provides the machinery that foundries such as TSMC and Intel use to print microchips, hit a record €989 (£837/US$1,068) this Thursday, bringing its market cap to the 20th largest globally at $423 billion.
ASML’s lithographic machinery is critical equipment used in the semiconductor manufacturing process to create intricate patterns on silicon wafers.
EUV (Extreme Ultraviolet) lithography is a specific type of lithography technology developed by ASML that uses extreme ultraviolet light with a wavelength of 13.5 nanometers.
An undoubtedly arcane field of technology, but one the market has valued highly.