Schwab Soundview re: TSM
Schwab Soundview Capital Markets (ASKJ, ISSI, TSM, IBM, QSFT, RHAT, JNPR, BA)
15 Jun 2004, 07:43am ET
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TSM: Reit Outperform - We believe TSMC`s business remains strong with order strength continuing and no signs of wafer start cancellations. We believe the company is on track to meet guidance in 2Q and could grow revenues by 15% quarter over quarter in 3Q.
Despite recent market chatter, our channel checks suggest TSMC`s business remains strong & the co. isn`t seeing any wafer start cancellations as customers are still clamoring for allocations. We estimate that TSMC`s current wafer start capacity is running ~15%--20% below demand. We believe 2Q remains on track to meet guidance of units up 10% & ASPs up low single digits. We believe wafer starts in 2Q remain strong and revenues could grow by about 15% q/q in 3Q. We believe that TSMC is one of the most attractively valued companies in our coverage universe, currently trading at 12.6x our 2004 EPS estimate of $0.60. From a book value perspective, TSMC is trading at 3.3x book value of $2.24 (about 2.8x 4Q04 projected book value), near 2002 trough levels of 2.3x.
