Apple-Intel chip deal faces years-long production timeline

Lisa Su, chief executive officer of U.S. semiconductor giant AMD, said on the 7th that the company is continuing to explore opportunities for partnership with Samsung Electronics in its memory and foundry businesses. Speaking to reporters during a visit to Seoul, Su said she had met with executives of SK Hynix and planned to meet with executives of Samsung Electronics as well. Amid tightening supply of semiconductor memory, she explained that AMD is working with customers to optimize its memory footprint so it can meet more computing demand going forward, and said the company is urging memory suppliers to build out production capacity faster and as quickly as possible. We rely heavily on the South Korean supply chain, and Samsung and SK Hynix are key to achieving our broad goals in data centers, she added. Su also said data center demand overall remains very strong, with signs of robust demand across AMD's entire product portfolio.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company is set to release its third-quarter 2026 earnings report on Oct. 15, with robust artificial intelligence demand and advanced process technology ramp-ups supporting a strong revenue trajectory. TSMC reported July revenues of NT$467.58 billion, up 44.7% year over year, and August revenues of NT$514.81 billion, up 53.3% year over year, for a combined NT$982.39 billion across the two months. The company's third-quarter guidance calls for revenues of $44.6-$45.8 billion, and the Zacks Consensus Estimate sits slightly below the upper end at $45.62 billion, implying 37.8% year-over-year growth. The consensus estimate projects third-quarter EPS of $4.45, signaling 52.4% year-over-year growth, up from $4.03 per share in recent months. TSMC expects third-quarter gross margin of 65%-67% and operating margin of 56%-58%, while management announced an additional $100 billion investment in Arizona for 2nm-and-below logic fabs and advanced packaging facilities.

Jim Cramer told a caller on the October 1 lightning round of Mad Money that he likes Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and advised buying the stock. The endorsement came as TSMC reported second-quarter revenue of $40.20 billion, up 33.7% year-over-year in U.S. dollar terms, with net income rising 77.4% to NT$706.56 billion and a gross margin of 67.7%. Advanced technologies at 7 nanometers and below generated 77% of wafer revenue, and August revenue reached approximately NT$514.81 billion, up 53.3% from a year earlier, bringing first-eight-month revenue up 39.3% to approximately NT$3.39 trillion. Management raised its 2026 capital expenditure budget to $60 billion to $64 billion, while warning that the initial 2-nanometer ramp will cut second-half gross margin by roughly 3 to 4 percentage points and that overseas factories will dilute margins by 2 to 3 points early on, potentially widening to 3 to 4 points. For the third quarter, the company guided to revenue of $44.6 billion to $45.8 billion and gross margin of 65% to 67%, below the second-quarter level despite higher expected sales.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company shares touched intraday all-time highs on Monday after Elon Musk confirmed early-stage talks with the chipmaker about a potential collaboration on his Terafab semiconductor initiative. Musk responded on X over the weekend to a newsletter from tech journalist Tim Culpan, who wrote that TSMC is exploring ways to work with Terafab to help the startup chipmaker run its new semiconductor factories in Texas, saying, "Just discussions, but something may come of it." Terafab is Musk's plan to build a giant semiconductor factory to serve Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI. US chip maker Intel, which joined Terafab back in April, was down roughly 2%. TSMC is the world's largest foundry, and its business has boomed on demand for semiconductors used in artificial intelligence, with the stock up about 60% year to date as the company expands in the US to manufacture chips for clients including Apple, Nvidia, and AMD.

GF Securities expects United Microelectronics to post stronger earnings per share over the next two years on a combination of stronger prices and margins, supported by rising orders from key clients that are lifting utilization rates at its foundry. Analyst Jeff Pu said 12-inch utilization should reach about 93% by end-2026 on strong DDIC volumes from Novatek and Samsung LSI at 22/28nm and Apple's Mac at 55/65nm, with upside from Sony's sensors, while 8-inch utilization should reach about 90% by end-2026 and full loading by 2H27 on intact demand for datacenter PMIC, MCU and embedded memory. Pricing momentum extends from 2H26 for selective customers into 1H27 at 10-30% across 12-inch and 8-inch, and into 2H27 where negotiations are ongoing, suggesting visibility extending into 2H27. GF Securities raised its EPS forecasts for the entirety of 2026 and 2027 by 2% and 8% respectively and maintained its Buy rating, with UMC expected to begin another growth phase in 2028 when it transitions to asset-light FinFET and optical full solutions, driven by Intel 2nm as a major inflection. Interposer and advanced packaging are expected to begin contributing during the second half of 2027, supported by silicon capacitor, DTC, hybrid bonding and controller-to-bonding integration. UMC shares were down 8% in pre-market trading on Monday, but the stock has surged 32% over the past month and more than 230% year-to-date.