Important points
Taiwan’s Foxconn, which assembles Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone and Nvidia’s (NVDA) products, posted record fourth-quarter sales on Monday, driven by a boom in demand for artificial intelligence (AI) technology. Chip stocks soared in intraday trading.
Foxconn, officially known as Hon Hai Precision Industry, said on Sunday that fourth-quarter sales rose 15% year-on-year to NT$2.132 trillion ($65.09 billion). Sales in December increased by 42% to NT$654.83 billion.
The company said, “Sales increased significantly year-on-year due to strong demand from AI servers.”
Honghai shares ended up 2% in Taiwan trading.
Nvidia CEO Huang to deliver CES keynote today
Shares of the AI chip company were rising early Monday after Foxconn’s strong financial results.
Nvidia shares rose 4% on Monday ahead of CEO Jensen Huang’s keynote speech at the CES trade show in Las Vegas. Shares of rival Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) rose 2.5%, and shares of Micron Technology (MU) rose 11%.
Additionally, the U.S.-listed shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSM) and Dutch semiconductor manufacturing machinery maker ASML Holding Co. (ASML) rose 5% and 6%, respectively.
