Key facts
- UMC is expanding cleanroom capacity in Singapore and building a new fab in Taiwan.
- The expansion is driven by increasing demand for AI-powered applications.
- UMC's 2026 capital expenditure budget has been raised to $2 billion.
- The company reported a 17% year-over-year increase in second-quarter revenue.
- Second-quarter net income saw a 374.7% increase.
Taiwanese chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC) announced on Wednesday that its board has approved an expansion plan to meet growing demand driven by artificial intelligence applications. The plan includes adding cleanroom capacity at its Singapore facility and constructing a new fab building at its main campus in Tainan, Taiwan.
UMC CEO Jason Wang stated that the expansion will be executed in phases, allowing the company to maintain capital discipline while flexibly deploying capacity to meet customer needs. Consequently, the 2026 capital expenditure budget has been revised upward to $2 billion.
Unlike Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), which focuses on the most advanced nanometer technologies for AI, UMC specializes in more mature chip nodes. The company reported its second-quarter revenue at T$68.73 billion ($2.12 billion), a 17% increase from the previous year. Net income surged by 374.7% to T$42.26 billion.
UMC's stock performance has been strong, with shares rising 120% year-to-date, significantly outperforming the broader market's 38.24% gain. However, the stock closed down 9.69% on Wednesday prior to its earnings release.