TSMC posted net income of NT$505.7 billion (about $16 billion) for the quarter, up 35 percent yr over yr and above analyst expectations. Revenue hit $33.7 billion, a 25.5 percent increase from the identical period last yr. The corporate expects nearly 30 percent revenue growth in 2026 and plans to spend between $52 billion and $56 billion on capital expenditures this yr, up from $40.9 billion in 2025.
Checking with the purchasers’ customers
Wei’s optimism stands in contrast to months of speculation about whether the AI industry is in a bubble. In November, Google CEO Sundar Pichai warned of “irrationality” within the AI market and said no company can be immune if a possible bubble bursts. OpenAI’s Sam Altman acknowledged in August that investors are “overexcited” and that “someone” will lose a “phenomenal sum of money.”
But TSMC, which manufactures the chips that power the AI boom, is betting the alternative way, with Wei telling analysts he spoke on to cloud providers to confirm that demand is real before committing to the spending increase.
“I would like to be certain that my customers’ demand are real. So I talked to those cloud service providers, all of them,” Wei said. “The reply is that I’m quite satisfied with the reply. Actually, they show me the evidence that the AI really helps their business.”
The earnings report landed the identical day the US and Taiwan finalized a trade agreement that cuts tariffs on Taiwanese goods to fifteen percent, down from 20 percent. The deal commits Taiwanese corporations to $250 billion in direct US investment, and TSMC is accelerating the expansion of its Arizona chip fabrication facilities to match.
