Investing.com — Major Asian semiconductor manufacturing stocks rose on Thursday, shrugging off weak cues from U.S. peers as investors focused on TSMC's earnings to determine whether demand for artificial intelligence remains strong. did.
U.S. chip manufacturing stocks such as NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:) and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:) slumped Wednesday after Dutch semiconductor technology maker ASML Holding NV (AS:) reported weaker-than-expected profits. It fell. The report raised concerns in some quarters that demand may not be as strong as initially expected.
However, memory chip makers took a positive cue from reports that Micron Technology Corp. (NASDAQ:) plans to receive more than $6 billion in subsidies from the U.S. government to increase domestic production. The stock rebounded in aftermarket trading on Wednesday.
Korean memory chip manufacturer Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (KS:) And SK Hynix Co., Ltd. (KS:) rose 1% and 0.8%, respectively. Earlier this week, Samsung received a similar value of U.S. subsidies to increase domestic production, as the U.S. aims to bring more chip manufacturing back to U.S. soil.
Among Asian chipmakers overall, China's largest chipmaker, Semiconductor Manufacturing International (Hong Kong), rose 1.6%, while Japanese chipmakers rose 1.6%. Advantest Co., Ltd. (TYO:) increased by nearly 4%.
TSMC's earnings are expected from AI queues
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (TW:) (NYSE:) (TSMC) fell slightly in Taiwanese trading on Thursday, but was still eyeing record highs.
The company is the world's largest contract chip maker, and its revenues are widely seen as a bellwether for global chip demand.
Monthly data showed that TSMC saw a nearly 17% increase in sales compared to the first quarter. The company expects earnings to improve on the back of increased demand for AI.
TSMC's net profit is expected to rise 5% from a year earlier to NT$217.2 billion ($6.7 billion), according to Reuters estimates.
While demand is expected to increase, costs are also expected to increase as TSMC expands production to meet the increased demand. The company recently received more than $11 billion in grants and low-cost loans from the United States to increase production domestically, particularly at a planned facility in Arizona.
TSMC is a major component of the global chip industry and a major supplier to Nvidia. NVIDIA's valuation has increased astronomically over the past year, and that has spilled over to TSMC as well.
TSMC is expected to report earnings around 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT).
