--- title: "Powerchip won't promise its record sales continue as it sells its newest fab to Micron for $1.8 billion" description: "The Taiwanese foundry told its exchange that a bullish revenue forecast was \"media speculation\" it would not comment on; three days later the shares fell 6.76% while chip peers rallied. The record numbers are real, and the company's refusal to promise they continue is the more telling fact." publisher: "The Inference" section: "Markets" published: 2026-10-16T01:33:40.870Z modified: 2026-10-16T01:33:40.870Z canonical: https://theinference.org/article/powerchip-won-t-promise-its-record-sales-continue-as-it-sells-its-newest-fab-to-micron-for-1-8-billion language: en keywords: "Semiconductors, Taiwan, Foundries, Micron, Stocks, Analyst Targets" --- # Powerchip won't promise its record sales continue as it sells its newest fab to Micron for $1.8 billion > The Taiwanese foundry told its exchange that a bullish revenue forecast was "media speculation" it would not comment on; three days later the shares fell 6.76% while chip peers rallied. The record numbers are real, and the company's refusal to promise they continue is the more telling fact. ## The company just declined to underwrite its own boom On October 12, Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing (PSMC), the Taiwanese foundry behind much of the island's mature-node, or older-generation, chip capacity, [told the Taiwan Stock Exchange](https://tw.stock.yahoo.com/quote/6770.TW) that a newspaper report expecting revenue to grow every quarter this year, with double-digit sequential gains, was "media speculation" it would not comment on [1]. The filing confirmed only that the first three quarters had risen sequentially, "reflecting good industry conditions" [1]. Three days later its shares closed 6.76% lower, while UMC, Winbond and Macronix, three other Taiwan chipmakers, each rose five to six percent [1]. Nothing in the day's record explains the divergence. What had changed was that the company had put distance between itself and the growth story its buyers were trading. ## The record month is real, and mostly price [September net sales set a record](https://winvest.tw/Stock/Symbol/Comment/6770) at just over NT$7.6 billion, almost double a year earlier, and the company's filing names the causes: rising customer demand, higher volumes and price increases [1][2]. Third-quarter revenue rose about 23% from the second [1], and [the second quarter beat consensus](https://www.ad-hoc-news.de/boerse/news/nebenwerte/powerchip-meldete-17-29-mrd-twd-umsatz-psmc-aktie-liegt-24-44-prozent-unter-dem-hoch/70309123) on both revenue and earnings [3]. *Chart: **Every quarter of 2026 has set a record** Column chart of PSMC quarterly net sales in 2026, rising from NT$13.6 billion in the first quarter to NT$21.4 billion in the third* *Quarterly consolidated net sales, NT$ billions, sums of the Win Invest monthly table of company filings (Jan-Sep 2026). Third-quarter growth of about 23% on the second matches the company's exchange filing. [2]* The engine is price. PSMC is reported to be [seeking rises of up to 40% on some products](https://www.newtimespace.com/en/tech/1448393.html), as the power needs of AI servers push buyers of power-management chips and microcontrollers into capacity that [TSMC](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/tsmc), the world's largest contract chipmaker, has partly vacated [4]. Chip designers say [some customers have begun pulling orders forward](https://www.trendforce.com/news/2026/10/05/news-ic-designers-reportedly-eye-5-to-double-digit-price-hikes-in-late-2026-early-2027-as-foundry-costs-rise/) to beat those hikes, and that this is not a broad recovery [5]. *Chart: **Revenue has climbed almost every month of 2026** Line chart of PSMC monthly net sales from January to September 2026, rising from NT$4.62 billion to NT$7.67 billion* *Monthly consolidated net sales, NT$ billions, January to September 2026. The Win Invest table records these figures in NT$ millions (4,618 to 7,665) from company filings; converted to billions here. [2]* ## PSMC is selling the fab its boom came from In March the company [agreed to sell its Tongluo P5 fab](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/micron-finds-a-way-to-make-more-dram-with-1-8bn-chip-plant-purchase/ar-AA1UxB2n), which it opened in 2024, to [Micron](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/micron), the US memory company, for US$1.8 billion, with Micron expecting meaningful output of DRAM, the workhorse memory chip, from the site in the second half of 2027; PSMC also said it would phase out low-margin products [6][1]. ![The PSMC Tongluo fab complex at its opening ceremony in May 2024, with the PSMC sign visible on the production building](https://storage.googleapis.com/theinference-public/img/6695b76909c82450.jpg) *The Tongluo P5 fab at its opening ceremony in May 2024. Micron agreed in March 2026 to buy it for US$1.8 billion and expects meaningful DRAM output from the site in the second half of 2027. (Office of the President, Taiwan (Wang Yu Ching))* Its next new capacity is [the Dholera fab it is building in India](https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20261011VL201.html) with the conglomerate Tata: 50,000 wafers a month across 28 to 110-nanometre processes, with production not expected before 2028 [7]. Micron, meanwhile, collects the memory shortage PSMC is walking away from, which Taiwan's memory industry expects to last into 2027 [1]. ## Analysts still price the growth Powerchip won't promise [Five analysts rate the stock a Buy](https://www.ad-hoc-news.de/boerse/news/nebenwerte/psmc-stock-heads-into-october-results-after-august-sales-hit-twd-7-009-billion/70250748), with an average target of NT$99.72 against the NT$66.20 close [8][1]. Foreign investors made PSMC their biggest net purchase on the Taiwan exchange on August 31, and on September 18 only an actively managed ETF drew more of their money [1]. That target needs exactly what the company declined to say: that the prices hold. When customers buy early to beat a rise, this quarter's revenue is partly next quarter's, arrived ahead of schedule. Third-quarter results were due on October 14, the day before the shares fell; what they say about price rather than volume is the marker to watch [3]. By selling its newest fab into the peak, Powerchip is behaving like a company that expects the cycle to turn. The bulls are underwriting a boom its own management refused to promise. ## Takeaway Powerchip's record sales are real but price-led and partly pulled forward, and by selling its newest fab into the peak the company itself is betting the cycle turns; the third-quarter results' price-versus-volume split is the marker to watch. ## Sources 1. [Yahoo股市 (Taiwan), 力積電 (6770.TW) quote page: 12 October exchange clarification, September revenue announcement, 15 October closing prices and peer moves, and CNA reports on the Micron purchase and foreign-investor buying, 15 October 2026](https://tw.stock.yahoo.com/quote/6770.TW) 2. [Win投資 (Win Invest), 力積電 (6770) analysis: monthly revenue table and company revenue note, 15 October 2026](https://winvest.tw/Stock/Symbol/Comment/6770) 3. [AD HOC NEWS, Powerchip meldete 17,29 Mrd. TWD Umsatz: PSMC-Aktie liegt 24,44 Prozent unter dem Hoch, 13 October 2026](https://www.ad-hoc-news.de/boerse/news/nebenwerte/powerchip-meldete-17-29-mrd-twd-umsatz-psmc-aktie-liegt-24-44-prozent-unter-dem-hoch/70309123) 4. [NewTimeSpace, AI Chip Concept Stocks Watch: UMC and PSMC move to raise mature-node foundry prices, 21 September 2026](https://www.newtimespace.com/en/tech/1448393.html) 5. [TrendForce News, IC Designers Reportedly Eye 5% to Double-Digit Price Hikes in Late 2026 to Early 2027 as Foundry Costs Rise, 5 October 2026](https://www.trendforce.com/news/2026/10/05/news-ic-designers-reportedly-eye-5-to-double-digit-price-hikes-in-late-2026-early-2027-as-foundry-costs-rise/) 6. [The Register via MSN, Micron finds a way to make more DRAM with $1.8bn chip plant purchase, Simon Sharwood, 2026](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/micron-finds-a-way-to-make-more-dram-with-1-8bn-chip-plant-purchase/ar-AA1UxB2n) 7. [DIGITIMES, Booked before launch, Tata's Dholera fab faces test of turning commitments into wafer volume, 12 October 2026](https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20261011VL201.html) 8. [AD HOC NEWS, PSMC stock heads into October results after August sales hit TWD 7.009 billion, 7 October 2026](https://www.ad-hoc-news.de/boerse/news/nebenwerte/psmc-stock-heads-into-october-results-after-august-sales-hit-twd-7-009-billion/70250748) --- Powerchip won't promise its record sales continue as it sells its newest fab to Micron for $1.8 billion — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/powerchip-won-t-promise-its-record-sales-continue-as-it-sells-its-newest-fab-to-micron-for-1-8-billion