Not just iPhones anymore: AI servers power Taiwan’s Foxconn to record quarter

Detailed summary

Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn on Thursday reported a record net profit for the third quarter, as the global buildout of data centres fuels demand for the ...

TAIPEI, Nov 12 — Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn on Thursday reported a record net profit for the third quarter, as the global buildout of data centres fuels demand for the AI servers needed to operate them.

The world’s largest electronics contract manufacturer has gone beyond making low-margin iPhones to producing AI servers for US tech titan Nvidia, as well as electric vehicles and robots.

Its shares and those of other tech firms plunged last week after the Democrats’ sweep of Congress in the US midterms would allow them to ramp up AI regulation and slow the data centre expansion.

Foxconn partner Nvidia has also weighed on sentiment, with US media reporting the company’s board is preparing to oust CEO Jensen Huang after revelations of his extramarital affairs, including with an alleged Chinese spy.

Foxconn said net profit for July-September hit NT$77.5 billion (RM9.8 billion), or US$2.4 billion (RM9.8 billion), up 34 per cent on-year.

The result beat estimates of NT$70.3 billion (RM8.9 billion) in a Bloomberg survey of analysts.

Revenue for the three months was up 39 per cent at NT$7.7 trillion (RM970 billion).

Chief Financial Officer David Huang said Foxconn’s “third-quarter revenue, operating income, net income, and earnings per share all reached record quarterly highs”.

“AI servers have become Foxconn’s most important growth driver,” Chairman Young Liu told a briefing.

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