Investing.com-- Technology stocks in Asia rose on Thursday, with chipmakers in the lead as strong monthly revenue figures from TSMC drummed up optimism over artificial intelligence-driven demand.
TSMC (TW:2330) (NYSE:TSM) rose nearly 2% in Taiwan trade and hit a record high of T$1,070.0, as the world’s largest contract chipmaker clocked revenue of T$207.87 billion ($6.4 billion) in June, bringing its second quarter revenue to T$673.51 billion, which beat market expectations.
The strong revenue came as the chipmaking giant likely benefited from increased demand for chips in the AI industry, as more companies moved to ramp up AI development and build chip infrastructure to support their efforts.
The strong revenue figures saw investors positioning for a bumper second-quarter earnings report from TSMC next week. The firm will report its second quarter earnings on July 18.
Asian tech stocks, particularly chipmakers, advanced on Thursday, tracking gains in TSMC. Optimism over TMSC also sparked overnight gains in U.S. chipmakers, with NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), TSMC’s biggest customer, rising over 2%.
In Asia, memory chip SK Hynix Inc (KS:000660), which has been tied closely to the AI industry, rose over 3%.
Japan’s Sony Corp (TYO:6758) and Mitsubishi Electric Corp (TYO:6503) rose 3.7% and 1%, respectively, as a recent report said the two planned to invest a combined 5 trillion yen ($31 billion) in chip development over the next five years.
Tokyo Electron Ltd. (TYO:8035) added 1.2%, while Renesas Electronics Corp (TYO:6723) surged 2.9%. But chip testing equipment maker Advantest Corp. (TYO:6857) fell slightly after hitting a four-month high earlier in the day.
In China, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (HK:0981), the country’s biggest chipmaker, rose nearly 2% in Hong Kong trade. Other major Chinese technology stocks also rose, with Tencent Holdings Ltd (HK:0700), Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (HK:9988) and Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) Inc (HK:9888) rising between 0.5% and 2.3% in Hong Kong trade.