TAIPEI (March 14): Taiwan's Foxconn, the world's largest contract electronics maker, forecast strong revenue growth in the first quarter after reporting a surprise 13% drop in fourth-quarter profit.

Foxconn, whose businesses include manufacturing iPhones for Apple and artificial intelligence (AI) servers for Nvidia, booked October-December net profit of T$46.33 billion (US$1.41 billion, or RM6.26 billion), missing the T$54.4 billion average of 15 analyst estimates compiled by LSEG.

The decline was Foxconn's first since the second quarter of 2023, when it fell 0.9%. Foxconn did not elaborate on its performance ahead of an earnings call at 3pm (0700 GMT).

In January, Foxconn said October-December revenue jumped 15.2% to a record for that quarter, on strong AI server sales.

The company, formally Hon Hai Precision Industry, on Friday said first-quarter revenue from consumer electronics is likely to grow significantly and that sales from cloud and networking products would grow strongly, without giving numerical guidance.

An escalating global trade war has complicated prospects, as Foxconn has a major manufacturing presence in China and Mexico, two of the biggest US trading partners facing increased import tariffs under the administration of US President Donald Trump.

Apple said last month that it will work with Foxconn to build a 250,000-square foot (23,200-square metre) facility in Houston, to assemble servers for data centres that power Apple Intelligence.

Foxconn's share price has fallen 8.7% this year, hit by concern about the impact of US tariffs and trade policy.

Uploaded by Liza Shireen Koshy