TSMC earnings call looms as Taiwan stocks slip and SOX falls
Taiwan's weighted index fell 0.99% (492 points) to 49,313, breaking its five-day moving average, as foreign investors net sold NT$75.85bn and the three major institutional investor groups sold more than NT$90bn combined ahead of TSMC's Oct 15 earnings call. Overnight, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) dropped 0.41% and TSMC's ADR slipped 1.02% to $453.31, while the US 10-year Treasury yield rose to 5.24%, pressuring high-multiple tech valuations. Money concentrated in AI hardware niches: Nanya Technology drew NT$11.57bn in foreign buying, Alchip NT$3.35bn from investment trusts, Global Unichip was reported to be preparing a 15% price increase, and Unimicron stayed volatile amid compliance concerns, with attention on TSMC's Q3 results and CoWoS capacity expansion.
The TSMC call, plus demand visibility for AI servers, high-bandwidth DRAM, CoWoS and IC substrates, is a key checkpoint for whether the AI hardware rally can continue.