One Of Best Traders In Congress Bought And Sold Taiwan Semiconductor Stock Ahead Of CHIPS Act Deal — Here's How Much They Made

Several leading semiconductor companies have benefitted from increased use cases for artificial intelligence.

Semiconductor companies are also benefitting from a push to expand operations in the United States, with the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act helping to provide funding for expansion in the country.

What Happened: Leading semiconductor company Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co TSM is among the latest companies to benefit from the CHIPS Act.

The company, which supplies products to Apple and NVIDIA Corporation NVDA, is receiving $6.6 billion from the United States government to help fund new manufacturing plants in Arizona. Taiwan Semiconductor will also be eligible to receive $5 billion in loans as part of the CHIPS Act.

The new plants could help bring "the manufacturing of the world's most advanced chips to American soil," U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said, while highlighting the CHIPS Act funding.

Shares of Taiwan Semiconductor were trading higher on Monday as news of the CHIPS Act funding broke. The stock has already been a highflyer over the last year, gaining 60% and outperforming the broader market.

One person who benefitted from the increase in the share price of Taiwan Semiconductor is Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), who is well known for his stock trading activity.

Gottheimer purchased $1,000 to $15,000 worth of Taiwan Semiconductor shares on March 9, 2023 and again on January 18, 2024.

The Representative sold $1,000 to $15,000 worth of TSM shares on Feb. 9, 2024 and March 12, 2024. The latest sale was filed on April 7, around the time the CHIPS Act funding was announced.

Here were the trading ranges of TSM shares during Gottheimer's last two purchases:

• March 9, 2023: $88.57 to $90.69
• Jan. 18, 2024: $109.48 to $113.39

Here are the trading ranges of TSM shares during Gottheimer's last two sales:

• Feb. 9, 2024: $130.59 to $135.17
• March 12, 2024: $140.57 to $146.70

Based on the buy and sell prices, Gottheimer may have gained between 44.0% and 52.6% on the first sale in February and between 24.0% and 34.0% on the second sale in March.

Related Link: 10 Best Stock Traders In Congress In 2023 (Spoiler: Nancy Pelosi Has Reentered The Chat)

Why It's Important: Gottheimer had four of the best stock trades by a member of Congress in 2023, according to an annual report from UnusualWhales. Trades of Meta Platforms (x2), Monster Beverage and Nvidia ranked 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd and 9^th by performance return respectively.

The CHIPS Act, which was passed in August 2022, has become a key topic when discussing the stock and options trading activity of members of Congress.

Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) came under fire when a stock disclosure showed that she owned shares of Nvidia before the approval of the CHIPS Act. The transaction, which was done by her husband venture capitalist Paul Pelosi, came before she traveled to Taiwan in support of the semiconductor sector.

The Pelosis later sold their Nvidia shares at a loss, missing out on millions of dollars in profit, with the sale potentially coming due to public pressure on the timing of the trade.

Benzinga recently shared that several members of Congress may have benefitted from buying Intel shares before the chip company was awarded funding from the CHIPS Act.

While it is unknown if Gottheimer knew or predicted that Taiwan Semiconductor could benefit from the CHIPS Act, the Congressman could end up having some of the best trades of the year once again thanks to Taiwan Semiconductor.

TSM Price Action: Taiwan Semiconductor shares are up 1.7% to $143.86 on Monday, versus a 52-week trading range of $81.21 to $158.40.

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