TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan’s Foxconn, the world’s largest contract electronics maker, beat expectations and posted its highest-ever third-quarter revenue on strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers.
Revenue at Apple’s largest iPhone assembler rose 20.2% year over year to T$1.85 trillion ($57.3 billion).
“The result exceeded the company’s original expectations of significant growth,” Foxconn said in a statement on Saturday.
It was also ahead of an LSEG SmartEstimate of T$1.79 trillion, which gives more weight to analyst forecasts that are more consistently accurate.
Strong demand for AI servers led to robust revenue growth for its cloud and networking products division, said Foxconn, whose customers include AI chip company Nvidia.
Smart consumer electronics, including iPhones, saw strong quarterly growth driven by new product launches, but year-over-year performance was flat.
The third quarter is traditionally the time when Taiwan’s tech companies start racing to supply smartphones, tablets and other electronics to major suppliers like Apple for the holiday season in Western markets.
Total revenue in September alone reached T$733 billion, up 10.9% year-on-year and the second highest level ever for the month.
“As we enter the peak season in the second half of the year, we expect our operations to gradually gain momentum,” Foxconn said of its outlook for the current quarter.
“The fourth quarter is expected to be approximately in line with current market expectations,” it added, without elaborating.
The company does not provide numerical forecasts.
Shares of Foxconn are up 86% so far this year, easily outperforming the 24% gain for the broader Taiwanese market. They closed 3.7% higher on Friday, ahead of the revenue data release, down 0.4% against the benchmark index.
The company will report its full third-quarter results on November 14. It has scheduled its annual Tech Day for October 8 and 9, an event where Foxconn normally announces new products or partnerships.
($1 = 32.2900 Taiwan dollars)
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
