An Empirical Study of Value Creation Drivers in Semiconductor Foundry Industry

隨著競爭的激烈，現今半導體晶圓代工產業面臨研發支出不斷增加以及晶圓製造廠的投資門檻越發提高之環境。然而在這晶圓代工競賽中，金融市場投資者也開始關注到金額龐大的資本資出是否能為公司創造更多的價值，以及其投資決策與融資決策對晶圓代工公司營運績效影響為何。 本研究以經濟附加價值(Economic Value Added; EVA)作為衡量半導體晶圓代工產業的公司價值指標，利用縱橫資料模型(panel data)驗證晶圓代工公司的EVA與市場價值之關連性，並探討影響半導體晶圓代工公司的價值創造的因子。此外，本研究亦針對半導體景氣循環指標及晶圓代工公司價值創造的關係進行研究。最後本研究以個案方式分析半導體晶圓代工公司價值創造之原因。 實證結果發現晶圓代工公司的EVA與市場價值具有高度的關連性與解釋能力，代表EVA確實能反映企業的真實價值。本文亦發現公司投入愈多的資本支出、追求高的營業利潤率、降低資金成本都會為半導體晶圓代工公司創造更多的價值。然而營收增加、營運資金投入的多寡及半導體景氣循環指標等因素對晶圓代工公司價值創造並無明顯之影響。此外，本文個案研究歸納出晶圓代工公司創造公司價值之因素共有下四點：一、擴大對現有的投入資本的報酬率。二、利用低利率環境和低β值，以降低資金成本。三、維持技術領先的競爭優勢，使公司擁有一段較長的時間能產生高於正常報酬率。四、加大資本資出進行新的投資，以賺取超額報酬。Advanced semiconductor manufacturing is at an inflection point with escalating R&D intensity and capital expenditure requirements for new fabrication plants of leading process. However, investors are concerned whether tremendous capital expenditure could generate return and create value to the company in this competition. Therefore, the objective of this study is to examine the foundry firms’ value by adopting the concept of Economic Value Added (EVA), measuring the excessive return that a company can generate over the cost of capital. At first, this study tests the power of EVA to capture the relationship between a company’s market value and EVA of foundries. As EVA may be affected by numerous financial value drivers, this research examines and ascertains which factors are relevant. Furthermore, this study also monitors the EVA of these firms to determine their relationship with the semiconductor cyclical index. The primary findings of this study are illustrated as below. EVA is systematically linked to market value in foundry industry. In addition, foundries with higher operating profit margin and higher capital expenditure could create more firms’ value while foundries with higher cost of capital and financial flexibility would destroy its value. Moreover, foundries’ EVAs are not been significantly affected by growth of sales, investments in working capital, and semiconductor cycle index. Furthermore, this paper also conducts a case study to analyze why TSMC creates EVA continuously: (1)TSMC increases returns on existing capital while holding WACC and invested capital constant. (2)TSMC reduces the cost of capital by leveraging low interest rate and low beta. (3)TSMC makes new investments that earn returns greater than the WACC. (4)TSMC sustains the competitive advantage of technological leadership which enables the company to generate above-normal returns for a longer period