Why we feature GFS: GlobalFoundries is the third-largest pure-play foundry globally and a strategic US/EU manufacturing alternative to TSMC. Direct beneficiary of US CHIPS Act funding and the trend toward semiconductor manufacturing reshoring.
GlobalFoundries (GFS) overview
GlobalFoundries is a pure-play semiconductor foundry — meaning it manufactures chips designed by other companies but doesn’t sell its own brand products (unlike Intel, which both designs and manufactures). Headquartered in Malta, New York, GFS is the third-largest pure-play foundry globally after TSMC and Samsung.
Listed on NASDAQ under ticker GFS since 2021 (spun out of AMD’s manufacturing arm decades earlier and operated by Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Investment), GlobalFoundries focuses on specialty manufacturing: automotive chips, RF (radio frequency) chips for 5G, secure-by-design defense chips, and mature-node (28nm+) workhorses rather than competing at TSMC’s leading edge.
What moves GFS
- US CHIPS Act funding allocations — direct beneficiary of US semiconductor manufacturing subsidies
- Auto chip demand cycle — automotive is a large customer segment
- Defense + aerospace contracts — secure manufacturing is a growth segment
- 5G infrastructure cap-ex — RF chip demand
- Mature-node pricing — less volatile than leading-edge but still cyclical
GFS is the geopolitical hedge in the semiconductor sector — US-headquartered manufacturing capacity insulated from China–Taiwan tensions affecting TSMC.
Where to trade GFS
CFDs via Pepperstone, IC Markets, Capital.com. Real shares via eToro, XTB, or Interactive Brokers.