U.S.-listed shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. ( TSM ) rose 4% in premarket trading Thursday after the world's largest contract chip manufacturer posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter profit and a bullish outlook for artificial intelligence (AI) demand.

TSMC, which supplies tech heavyweights such as Apple ( AAPL ) and Nvidia ( NVDA ), posted profit of 374.68 billion New Taiwan dollars ($11.37 billion), a 57% year-over-year surge, or NT$14.45 ($0.44) per share. Analysts polled by Visible Alpha expected NT$369.15 billion, or NT$14.20 per share.

The firm, which posted revenue of NT$868.46 billion, up 39% year-over-year, had indicated the top-line number last week when it disclosed its December monthly sales figures. TSMC also said then that its 2024 revenue came to NT$2.89 trillion, a 34% gain.

"Our business in the fourth quarter was supported by strong demand for our industry-leading 3nm and 5nm technologies," TSMC Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Wendell Huang said. "Moving into first quarter 2025, we expect our business to be impacted by smartphone seasonality, partially offset by continued growth in AI-related demand."

TSMC Projects Q1 Revenue of $25B-$25.8B

TSMC sees first-quarter 2025 revenue between $25.0 billion and $25.8 billion; gross profit margin between 57% and 59%; and operating profit margin between 46.5% and 48.5%. It also expects its 2025 capital budget to be between $38 billion and $42 billion.

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