After a hot 2023, the rise of US stocks in the new year was met with some resistance. The S&P 500 index has repeatedly hit record highs unsuccessfully. The rising situation in the Red Sea region has disrupted risk aversion. Apple's performance after downgrading has shown the outside world the weak side of weighted stocks.

This week, the Dow fell 0.33% cumulatively. The S&P 500 index fell 0.06% during the same period, and the NASDAQ rose 0.55% over the same period.

Specifically, the number one increase in US stocks this week$Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM.US)$The stock jumped sharply by nearly 10% overnight, driving weekly gains to 11.65%, with a total market capitalization of over 580 billion US dollars.

The performance of TSMC, the world's largest chip foundry, has begun to pick up, and Q4 net profit and revenue both exceeded expectations. Among them, the 3nm chip, which is very popular in the market, performed well, accounting for 15% of quarterly wafer revenue, which is significantly higher than 6% in the previous quarter. TSMC expects steady growth in Q1 of 2024, with annual revenue growth of more than 20%.

Market participants pointed out that as a major supplier to the US chip industry and Apple, TSMC's positive performance provided strong support for the recovery of related industrial chains, and its positive guidance also brought good news about a recovery in smartphone and computing demand. Goldman Sachs analysts said that under the multiple benefits of “low valuation, good prospects, and strong AI demand,” TSMC's stock price is expected to “explode.”

Inspired by TSMC's earnings report, chip stocks rebounded strongly overnight.$PHLX Semiconductor Index (.SOX.US)$The intraday market is approaching historic highs, and constituent stocks$Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.US)$Hand in hand$NVIDIA (NVDA.US)$The stock price reached a record high.

US Industrial and Rugged Parts Distributor$Fastenal (FAST.US)$Overnight, it surged more than 7%, while the stock price reached a record high, making it the best-performing constituent stock of the S&P 500.

On January 18, Q4 2023Q4 performance report was released. According to the data, the company's Q4 sales were 1.76 billion US dollars, and earnings per share were 0.46 US dollars, all exceeding market expectations. Operating margin was 20.1%, while gross margin increased to 45.5%; full-year operating cash flow exceeded $1.4 billion, an increase of 52% compared to 2022.

Q4 signed 58 new on-site office locations, with a total of 1,822 on-site locations by the end of 2023. The company plans to sign approximately 375-400 new on-site office locations in 2024, while aiming to increase e-commerce sales to 25% of total sales.

Auto parts retailers and suppliers$O'Reilly Automotive (ORLY.US)$It recorded an increase for the sixth day in a row. The stock price hit a record high and broke through the 1,000 US dollar mark. The cumulative increase during this period was over 9%, and this week's cumulative increase was more than 6%.

Coincidentally, it also belongs to an after-sales parts supplier$AutoZone (AZO.US)$It rose about 6% this week, driving the stock price to $2722.98.

CFRA automotive analyst Garrett Nelson previously pointed out that currently, the average age of a car in the US is close to 14 years, and the average age of a truck is about 12 years. Over the past 30 years, the average age of cars has increased by about five years. Part of this is due to improved car quality; another reason is higher prices and lower dealer inventories, making people tend to repair cars rather than buy new ones.

Feedback on the capital market is that this trend will benefit the stocks of aftermarket parts suppliers such as O'Reilly Motors (ORLY) and Auto Zone (AZO).

On the other hand, the weakest performing stocks this week are as follows:

Editor/phoebe