TAIPEI, Jan 9 (Reuters) – TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, on Friday reported a 20.45% increase in fourth-quarter revenue from a year earlier, beating the market forecast, as demand for the company's products leapt in response to surging interest in AI applications. The company, whose customers include Nvidia and Apple, has been a major beneficiary of advances in AI, which has more than offset the tapering off of pandemic-led demand for chips used in consumer electronics like tablets. Revenue for the October-December period was T$1.046 trillion ($33.11 billion), according to Reuters calculations based on monthly data released by the company, compared with T$868.46 billion in the year-ago period. The latest result beat a LSEG SmartEstimate of T$1.036 trillion ($32.79 billion) drawn from 20 analysts, and was in line with guidance of $32.2 billion to $33.4 billion issued by TSMC in October in its last earnings call. TSMC only gives guidance in U.S. dollars. TSMC will report full fourth-quarter earnings on January 15, when it is expected to provide updated guidance for the current quarter and full year, including its capital expenditure plans and revenue growth outlook. TSMC's Taipei-listed shares gained 44.2% last year, outperforming the 25.7% rise for the broader market. Taiwan's Foxconn, the world's largest contract electronics maker and Nvidia's biggest server maker, also reported bumper sales on Monday, logging T$2.6028 trillion ($82.20 billion) for the fourth quarter. ($1 = 31.5950 Taiwan dollars) (Reporting by Wen-Yee Lee; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Jane Merriman)
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