Foxconn profit surges amid AI boom, but trade tensions cloud outlook

The Taiwanese iPhone assembler and AI server maker reported a 91 per cent leap in first-quarter profit but downgraded its full-year outlook

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A Foxconn electric two-wheeler powertrain system displayed at the company’s annual tech day in Taipei on October 8, 2024. Photo: Reuters

Published: 4:06pm, 14 May 2025

Taiwan’s Foxconn, the world’s largest contract electronics maker, posted a 91 per cent leap in first-quarter profit and beat the market forecast on strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers, but gave a more conservative full-year outlook.

Net profit for January-March for Apple’s top iPhone assembler and Nvidia’s server maker came in at T$42.12 billion (US$1.39 billion), versus the T$37.8 billion average of 13 analyst estimates compiled by LSEG.

Foxconn, formally Hon Hai Precision Industry, last month said January-March revenue jumped 24.2 per cent to a record for that quarter on strong sales of AI servers.

In an earnings report, Foxconn said it should see significant on-year growth in the second quarter, with high double-digit growth year on year for AI servers and an accelerating volume production ramp-up.

But for full-year revenue, it forecast significant on-year growth, downgrading the outlook from a previous prediction of strong growth. It did not elaborate and the company does not provide numerical guidance.

A Sino-US trade spat could dim prospects for Foxconn’s outlook this year, as it has a major manufacturing presence in China, though Washington and Beijing on Monday agreed to slash tariffs for at least 90 days.