: TSMC stock gains on report that Nvidia AI-chip order has boosted production

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Taiwan’s Economic Daily News reported that TSMC was now using 70% to 80% of its 5-nanometer transistor-making capacity because of Nvidia orders.


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U.S. shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. outpaced the broader chip sector Monday following a report that increased AI-related orders from Nvidia Corp. have allowed the third-party fabricator to increase use of its capacity significantly.

On Monday, Taiwan’s Economic Daily News reported that TSMC
TSM,
+4.14%

was now using 70% to 80% of its 5-nanometer transistor-making capacity because of Nvidia
NVDA,
+1.84%

orders, up from previous usage levels in the more-than 50% range.

In chip parlance, nanometers, or nm, refers to the size of the transistors that are etched onto a silicon wafer to make a computer chip, with the general rule being that smaller transistors are faster and more efficient in using power.

Read from last week: TSMC stock gains as forecast update comes in ‘better than feared’

TSMC has the capacity to make up to 130,000 5-nm wafers a month, and is currently running a production volume of about 90,000 to 100,000 wafers a month because of the additional Nvidia orders, which will be delivered in July, according to the report.

Read also: Nvidia CEO feels ‘perfectly safe’ sourcing from Taiwan’s TSMC amid China tensions

Nvidia is expected to cash in big on the artificial-intelligence surge via hardware and software sales this year.

American depositary receipts of TSMC rose 4.1% on Monday to close at $107.06, while the PHLX Semiconductor Index
SOX,
+3.31%

finished up 3.3%, compared with a 0.9% rise by the S&P 500 index
SPX,
+0.93%
,
and a 1.5% gain on the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index
COMP,
+1.53%
.

Reporters Zoe Han, Frances Yue and Isabel Wang translated an article about TSMC from Taiwan publication Economic Daily News.