SINGAPORE, July 11 Reuters Taiwan39;s TSMC scaled a record high on Thursday after posting strong secondquarter revenue on booming demand for AI applications, cementing its position as Asia39;s most valuable company.

TSMC also topped a trillion dollar market value this week.

WHY IT39;S IMPORTANT

The AI frenzy has sparked a rally in chipmaker stocks across the globe. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co TSMC, the world39;s largest contract chipmaker, whose customers include AI poster child Nvidia, has especially benefited from the soaring demand for AIcapable chips.

Foreign investors have poured 4.8 billion so far this year into Taiwan39;s stock market, which is dominated by TSMC. Asian funds, however, according to HSBC, still remain underweight on Taiwan, suggesting there could be room for further inflow.

BY THE NUMBERS

Shares of TSMC, whose customers also include Apple, have jumped nearly 80 this year, widely outperforming the benchmark Taiwan SE Weighted Index, which is up 35.

On Thursday, TSMC39;s Taipeilisted shares rose more than 2 to a record T1,080, taking the company39;s market value to T28 trillion 861 billion and making it Asia39;s most valuable publicly listed company.

TSMC39;s ADRs , first listed on the NYSE in 1997, jumped 4.8 to a record 192.79 on Monday, briefly boosting the firm39;s market value to 1 trillion. On Wednesday, the ADRs closed at 191.05.

TSMC is due to report its full secondquarter earnings on July 18.

CONTEXT

AIfocused companies,…