Taipei [Taiwan], December 22 (ANI): Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) recorded its highest number of shareholders in nearly eight months this week, even as its share price dropped. The number of people owning shares in the company rose to 1.88 million as of Friday. This is the highest level seen since April 25. The total count increased by 31,870 people compared to the previous week, according to a report by Focus Taiwan.

The increase in shareholders happened despite a 3.38 per cent fall in the company's stock price. Shares fell by NT$1,430.00 (USD 45.39). This price drop occurred because many investors decided to sell their shares to collect profits. This selling followed a period of ups and downs for technology stocks in the United States. Because of this price decline, the total market value of TSMC fell by NT$1.29 trillion (USD 41.02 billion) in a single week.

Data from the Taiwan Stock Exchange showed that the cheaper stock price encouraged small investors to buy more. Many of these individuals bought 'odd lots,' which are groups of fewer than 1,000 shares. The number of these small-scale investors grew by 25,217 to reach about 1.40 million by Friday. Odd-lot trading makes it easier for regular people to own pieces of expensive companies like TSMC without needing a lot of money at once.

Other groups of investors also grew during the week. The number of people holding between 1,000 and 5,000 shares rose by 5,839 to a total of 376,597. Even the largest investors, who own 1 million shares or more, increased by 12 people to reach a total of 1,541. These numbers show that many different types of buyers saw the lower price as a good time to get involved with the company.

'TSMC, the most heavily weighted stock on the local market, is expected to continue to benefit from strong global demand for its high-end processes, including 3-nanometer nodes and sophisticated 3D chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) IC packaging services, to meet strong global demand for artificial intelligence applications, according to market analysts,' the report said. (ANI)