TSMC posts sixth straight record quarterly profit on AI chip demand
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. reported net profit of NT$763.1 billion for July to September, up about 69 percent from a year earlier and above analyst forecasts. The company also guided fourth-quarter revenue to $52.3 billion to $54.3 billion.
Record profit on AI chip demand
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) reported net profit of NT$763.1 billion (about $23.6 billion) for July to September, up roughly 69 percent from a year earlier. The figure beat the LSEG SmartEstimate of NT$746.3 billion compiled from 16 analysts and marks the sixth consecutive quarterly record for the company. Revenue for the quarter rose 51 percent to NT$1.49 trillion, while gross margin reached 66.4 percent. Orders for AI data centres, mainly in the United States, drove the gains, and the chipmaker counts Nvidia, AMD and Apple among its customers.
- Q2 2026
- 706.6 NT$ billion
- Q3 2026
- 763.1 NT$ billion
Outlook and capital spending
For the fourth quarter, TSMC expects revenue of $52.3 billion to $54.3 billion and a gross margin of 65 to 67 percent, a margin range in line with market expectations. The company kept its 2026 capital spending forecast at $60 billion to $64 billion. It is building or renewing 20 fabs at the same time, and its planned US investment in Arizona totals $265 billion, including an additional $100 billion unveiled in July. Morgan Stanley analyst Charlie Chan said that sum may not be enough given the fast-growing demand. Reuters reported in September that TSMC was evaluating a potential investment in Texas.
Shares and the wider AI sell-off
TSMC's Taipei-listed shares closed 2 percent lower ahead of the release, amid a broader tech sell-off. Investors fear further interest rate hikes from the US Federal Reserve could weigh on AI stocks that are sensitive to borrowing costs. Shares of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix slid more than 10 percent. Handelsblatt reported Samsung's share price at 214,500 won on Thursday morning, 20 percent below a week earlier and 42.7 percent under its July all-time high, even though Samsung had published preliminary third-quarter results on 8 October. Gartner forecasts that the industry will invest about $7 trillion in AI infrastructure between 2026 and 2030, but will earn only $3.6 trillion from its data centres. Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan described capital and its cost as the main challenge at a conference in Singapore. The yield on unsecured bonds of AI cloud provider CoreWeave reached 15 percent this week.
- TSMC unveils an additional $100 billion investment for Arizona
- Reuters reports TSMC is evaluating a potential investment in Texas
- Samsung Electronics publishes preliminary third-quarter results
- ASML provides an upbeat outlook
- TSMC reports its sixth consecutive quarterly record profit
Terafab and Texas
Tesla chief executive Elon Musk has said his companies would build and operate the Terafab AI chip complex, and that TSMC could sublease part of it. Bloomberg reported that TSMC is in discussions about collaborating with the Terafab project, but the chipmaker stressed that it must control its chip production in any alliance.
