Semiconductor equipment makers rise on a tough NASDAQ tape, thanks to the continuing shortage of chips and increased CAPEX in the industry. In our model portfolios we own Ultra Clean – UCTT.NAS and Kla Corporation – KLAC. NAS and we recommend all of the stock below.

From Investors Business Daily

Taiwan Semi Tops Q4 Targets

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) reported Q4 EPS grew 19% while sales rose 24% to $15.74 billion, both beating views. The world’s largest chip foundry guided to Q1 sales of $16.9 billion, also above forecasts. It also targeted 2022 capital spending of $40 billion to $44 billion vs. last year’s $30 billion. Taiwan Semi makes chips for fabless semiconductor firms and consumer device makers such as Apple (AAPL), AMD (AMD), Nvidia (NVDA) and Qualcomm (QCOM). Smartphone chips accounted for 44% of Taiwan Semi’s revenue in the fourth quarter while high-performance computing chips made up 37% of sales. TSM stock jumped to a new high on Thursday.