Are you thinking about adding some semiconductor stocks to your portfolio? Brilliant -- that industry is roaring back from a cyclical downturn of epic proportions. Now would be a great time to invest.
But you might feel like a donkey, caught between piles of tasty hay and flowers, unable to pick a favorite. Do you go for the proven stability of giants like Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN ) or Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM ) ? Would you like the focused strategies and exciting growth opportunities of smaller chip designers like computer graphics expert NVIDIA (Nasdaq: NVDA ) or communications specialist Atheros (Nasdaq: ATHR ) ?
Tell you what -- you don't really have to decide. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE: TSM ) , also known as Taiwan Semi or TSMC, manufactures chips for all of the processor designers I've mentioned (and many more). The company stands to gain handsomely from a general resurgence in the semiconductor industry.
TSMC just reported nearly double the revenues and a massive earnings jump compared to the previous quarter, and is nearly back to the pre-crash levels of 2008 on both counts. Sales stopped at about $2.25 billion, while earnings jumped from $0.01 per ADS last quarter to $0.14 per depositary share this time.
The rebound comes from "improved demand outlook, customers' companies launching new products, and customers' inventory restocking" across all geographies and industries. And the good times will keep rolling, according to CFO Lora Ho: "Both our macroeconomic forecast and booking trend indicate that we will have a good third quarter," she said.
TSMC pulled in $518 million of free cash flows and confirmed a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share plus a 0.5% straight-up stock award. The stock’s paying a cash dividend yield of roughly 3.6% at current prices. Good luck finding a savings account that juicy, even if you assume that the share price will go nowhere for years. TSMC's stock has actually climbed roughly 40% in the last six months, though.
So you can get broad exposure to the chip sector through one market-leader's stock, complete with juicy dividends and awesome financial stability -- more than $9 billion of current assets on hand, most of which is cash. It's a five-star CAPS stock for good reason. Even if you build out your tech portfolio with something like Marvell (Nasdaq: MRVL ) and SanDisk (Nasdaq: SNDK ) later -- two more TSMC customers, by the way -- this stock is a brilliant place to start.
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