Taiwan Semiconductor’s Profit Rises 54% As A.I. Demand Soars

TSMC, as the company is commonly known, is the world’s largest manufacturer of microchips and semiconductors, accounting for three-quarters (75%) of the global supply.

The Taiwan-based company reported net income, or profit, of 325.3 billion Taiwanese dollars ($10.1 billion U.S.) for the July through September quarter, which was up more than 50% from a year ago and ahead of the $300.2 billion Taiwanese dollars forecast among analysts.

Revenue in the quarter totaled $23.5 billion U.S., up 36% year-over-year. TSMC also reported a gross margin of 57.8% compared to 54.3% a year ago.

The strong results sent TSMC’s stock up 7% in pre-market trading and lifted other semiconductor stocks higher as well.

Management attributed the Q3 results to “strong smartphone and AI-related demand for our industry leading 3nm and 5nm technologies.”

Looking ahead, TSMC said that it expects revenue in the current fourth quarter of $26.1 billion U.S. to $26.9 billion U.S., which would represent a 35% year-over-year increase at the midpoint.

The company also raised its forecast for its capital expenditures this year to about $30 billion U.S. TSMC is increasing its manufacturing presence worldwide, investing $65 billion U.S. to build three chip plants in Arizona to help meet America’s chip demand.

Prior to today (Oct. 17), the stock of TSMC had risen 85% this year to trade at $187.48 U.S. per share.