April 22nd, 2025 | 07:10 CEST
TSMC, NetraMark, and Siemens Energy defy the crisis
The global economy is faltering. The US president's tariff policy prompted the World Trade Organization (WTO) to drastically cut its forecast for global trade in its latest report. It drastically cut its forecast for global trade in goods and now expects global trade volume to decline by 0.2% in 2025. Several analysts have also lowered their outlook for the S&P 500. While experts' price targets at the beginning of the year were still at 6,600 points, they have now been lowered to an average of 5,950 points. Nevertheless, some companies are able to weather the crisis and at least confirm their annual targets.
time to read: 4 minutes
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Author:
Stefan Feulner
ISIN:
TAIWAN SEMICON.MANU.ADR/5 | US8740391003 , NETRAMARK HOLDINGS INC | CA64119M1059 , SIEMENS ENERGY AG NA O.N. | DE000ENER6Y0
Table of contents:

"[...] In Canada, there is $1.75 of debt for every dollar of disposable income - and that was true even before the pandemic. [...]" Karim Nanji, CEO, Marble Financial
Author
Stefan Feulner
The native Franconian has more than 20 years of stock exchange experience and a broadly diversified network.
He is passionate about analyzing a wide variety of business models and investigating new trends.
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Taiwan Semiconductor – In the eye of the storm
The Trump earthquake naturally also affected the shares of the world's largest independent semiconductor manufacturer. Since its high of USD 226.40 at the end of January, the share price has lost almost 33% to USD 151.82. Looking at the chart, it is still too early to sound the all-clear. If the double low marked in August last year and on April 7, 2025, is broken again, further sell-offs are likely. The next support level would then be in the USD 125 range.
From a fundamental perspective, however, the Taiwanese giant posted impressive first-quarter figures. TSMC's net profit rose by 60% to around USD 11.1 billion in the most recent quarter. Revenue also increased significantly by 41.6% to USD 25.80 billion, exceeding analysts' expectations. The Company expects further growth in the second quarter, signaling to the markets that the AI boom is continuing. After all, chips with advanced structure widths (7 nm and smaller) now account for 73% of wafer sales.
Despite growing trade tensions with the US, the world's largest contract manufacturer for semiconductors is sticking to its ambitious outlook for the 2025 fiscal year. The Company expects revenue growth "of around 20%", as CEO C.C. Wei confirmed – precisely in line with the January forecast. Planned investments also remain unchanged at USD 38 to 42 billion.
The Company's CEO also rejected speculation about a possible collaboration with Intel. He made it clear to analysts that "TSMC is not in discussions with any other company regarding joint ventures, technology licensing, or technology exchange." Therefore, media reports about a joint project to support Intel's struggling foundry business are completely unfounded.
NetraMark – Strong momentum
While many AI companies are currently undergoing a correction, with Nvidia, for example, losing around 35% of its value since its all-time high on January 7, 2025, NetraMark shares are standing firm. After a brief, volatile correction to the CAD 1 range, the share was bought up amid rising sales and is currently trading at CAD 1.62, just below its all-time high of CAD 1.79. A break above this significant mark would generate a strong buy signal, which should push the price above the CAD 2 mark.
The vision of the CAD 130 million company is huge. The Canadian company wants nothing less than to revolutionize clinical trials in the pharmaceutical industry with the help of modern data analysis and the use of artificial intelligence. Given the inefficiency that currently prevails in the pharmaceutical industry, the NetraMark 2.0 platform launched a few weeks ago comes at just the right time. 90% of all clinical trials fail between drug development and market approval, with the most obvious example being the expensive Phase 3 trials, where up to 65% are discontinued.
The young company has announced a milestone through a cooperation with Worldwide Clinical Trials (WCT). The NetraAI platform will be distributed through WCT's global network. Further partnerships exist with the National Institute of Mental Health (NIH) and a top-five pharmaceutical company. NetraMark is aiming for positive EBITDA by the end of the year. Thanks to the recently formed partnerships, the platform is expected to begin scaling up in the coming months. If the experienced management can implement this, the current market valuation will likely become obsolete.
In a detailed interview, George Achilleos, CEO of NetraMark, explained the business model and discussed the company's goals and vision.
In a detailed interview George Achilleos, CEO of NetraMark, explained the business model and discussed the Company's goals and vision with Lyndsay Malchuk.

Siemens Energy - Makes a big splash
Alongside booming defense stocks, Siemens Energy is one of the stocks of the moment on the German stock market. With the publication of its figures for the second quarter of 2025, the share price reached a new all-time high of EUR 65.58, despite a short-term correction due to the Trump shock.
The Munich-based company increased its preliminary profit from EUR 501 million to EUR 615 million compared to the same period last year. Revenue rose from EUR 8.28 billion to EUR 9.96 billion in the same period.
The significant increase in operating profit before special items, which more than quintupled to EUR 906 million, is particularly noteworthy. This results in an operating margin of 9.1%, well above the previous market expectations of 6.2%. In this context, the Company spoke of a "positive business development," without providing any specific details.
In light of this development, Siemens Energy has raised its annual forecast. The Company now expects comparable revenue growth, adjusted for currency effects and portfolio changes, of 13 to 15%. The operating margin before special items is now expected to be between 4% and 6%, also above the previous target range of 3% to 5%.
For the full year, Siemens Energy anticipates net income to rise to EUR 1 billion, a significant increase compared to the previous target, which was close to the break-even point. Free cash flow before taxes is expected to be around EUR 4 billion.
Despite the uncertainties in the overall market, Siemens Energy reached a new all-time high with the publication of its quarterly figures. Taiwan Semiconductor also exceeded analyst estimates. NetraMark is likely to start scaling up thanks to the partnerships it has concluded.
Conflict of interest
Pursuant to §85 of the German Securities Trading Act (WpHG), we point out that Apaton Finance GmbH as well as partners, authors or employees of Apaton Finance GmbH (hereinafter referred to as "Relevant Persons") may hold shares or other financial instruments of the aforementioned companies in the future or may bet on rising or falling prices and thus a conflict of interest may arise in the future. The Relevant Persons reserve the right to buy or sell shares or other financial instruments of the Company at any time (hereinafter each a "Transaction"). Transactions may, under certain circumstances, influence the respective price of the shares or other financial instruments of the Company.
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