EDITION OF SUN 18 OCT 2026
229 · BUSINESS

TSMC posts sixth straight record quarterly profit as AI chip demand surges

publishers 21articles 22first reported 15 Oct, 00:15 UTCdeveloping since 15 Oct · 7 editions

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. reported a sixth consecutive record quarterly profit on Thursday as demand for advanced chips used in artificial intelligence systems remained strong.

Third-quarter net income rose 68.7% from a year earlier to NT$763.1 billion ($23.6 billion), beating estimates cited by CNBC and AFP. Revenue increased 50.9% to about NT$1.5 trillion, while operating margin reached 58.7%, above the upper end of TSMC’s guidance.

High-performance computing generated 68% of revenue, followed by smartphones at 21%. Three-nanometer chips accounted for 33% of sales, the largest share among the company’s manufacturing technologies. Free cash flow climbed to NT$476.56 billion from NT$139.38 billion a year earlier.

Chief Executive C.C. Wei described demand for advanced chips as “extremely robust,” including for the company’s ramp-up of two-nanometer technology. TSMC expects fourth-quarter revenue to rise 58% year over year, CNBC reported. Competition among customers for the company’s manufacturing capacity remains intense as Nvidia, AMD, Broadcom, Apple and major cloud-computing companies expand AI chip production.

Wei said TSMC would remain prudent in planning for 2027 because of higher component prices and economic uncertainty. He also confirmed that the company is evaluating potential U.S. expansion outside Arizona and has sent a team to assess sites in Texas, though no decision has been announced.

HOW THIS STORY WAS MADE

Written from 8 articles, 3 with the publisher's own text; 7 independent newsrooms once syndicated copies count as one; this version written 18 h after the record first saw the story; the editor kept it as written.

Publishers
21
Source articles
22
Given to the writer
8, 3 with the article's own text
Independent newsrooms
7
This version written
18 h after the record first saw the story
Second model (editor)
kept as written
Publication gate
passed
Human review
none

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The second model checked the writer's draft against the same sources and published it as written.

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0 10 21 16 Oct 17 Oct 18 Oct 19 Oct 20 Oct 21 Oct 15 Oct 12:20 UTC · TSMC posts sixth consecutive record quarterly profit on AI chip demand 15 Oct 18:23 UTC · TSMC posts sixth straight record quarterly profit as AI chip demand surges 16 Oct 00:18 UTC · TSMC posts sixth straight record quarterly profit as AI chip demand surges

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