Foundry capex forecast rises
- TSMC said on April 16 it would keep 2026 capital spending at $38 billion to $42 billion after first-quarter revenue jumped 35.1%, tying the outlay to sustained artificial-intelligence and advanced-node demand. - The company’s board had already approved about $14.98 billion in fresh capital appropriations in February, while management said 70% of 2026 spending will go to advanced process technologies. - The backdrop is a wider equipment upcycle: SEMI expects foundry-and-logic wafer-fab equipment spending to reach $69.0 billion in 2026 as AI pushes leading-edge expansion. (semi.org)
TSMC kept its 2026 capital spending plan at $38 billion to $42 billion on April 16, tying the budget to artificial-intelligence demand and tighter leading-edge capacity. (pr.tsmc.com) (investor.tsmc.com) A foundry is a chip factory that builds processors designed by customers such as Nvidia and Apple, and capital expenditure is the money spent on new fabs, tools and packaging lines. (investor.tsmc.com) (semi.org) TSMC reported first-quarter 2026 revenue of NT$1.134 trillion, up 35.1% from a year earlier, and said second-quarter revenue should rise to $39.0 billion to $40.2 billion. (pr.tsmc.com) (investor.tsmc.com) Management said 70% of this year’s capital budget will go to advanced process technologies, with another 10% to 20% for specialty technologies and 10% to 20% for advanced packaging, testing, mask making and other items. (investor.tsmc.com) The company’s board had already approved about $14.98 billion in capital appropriations on February 10 for fab construction, advanced technology capacity, advanced packaging, specialty capacity, research and development, and sustaining spending. (pr.tsmc.com) TSMC also expanded its U.S. manufacturing plan in March 2025, adding $100 billion to bring its total planned U.S. investment to $165 billion across Arizona fabs, packaging and a research-and-development center. (pr.tsmc.com) The spending push is tracking a broader industry cycle. SEMI said foundry-and-logic wafer-fab-equipment sales are expected to rise to $64.8 billion in 2025 and $69.0 billion in 2026, driven by advanced-node demand. (semi.org) TrendForce said in March that global foundry revenue should climb 24.8% in 2026 to about $218.8 billion, with demand led by artificial-intelligence processors and custom chips from cloud companies. (trendforce.com) Counterpoint Research said the broader “Foundry 2.0” market, which includes manufacturing and advanced packaging, reached a record $320 billion in 2025 as artificial-intelligence chip demand stayed strong. (counterpointresearch.com) That is why capex forecasts are rising: the money is no longer just for more wafer starts, but for the tools and packaging needed to turn artificial-intelligence demand into shipped chips. (semi.org) (counterpointresearch.com)
