TSMC posts stronger Q1
TSMC reported a Q1 EPS of $3.49 and revenue of $35.9 billion, both beating analyst estimates and sending its shares higher. (x.com) The company guided Q2 revenue to $39–$40.2 billion, above the street’s $37.9 billion estimate, which underpins the recent rally in Taiwan tech stocks. (x.com)
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing on Thursday posted another quarter of growth and told investors the current quarter should be even bigger. (investor.tsmc.com) The company reported first-quarter revenue of $35.9 billion, above its own guidance range of $34.6 billion to $35.8 billion, and guided second-quarter revenue to $39 billion to $40.2 billion. It also projected second-quarter gross margin of 65.5% to 67.5% and operating margin of 56.5% to 58.5%. (investor.tsmc.com) Reuters reported first-quarter net profit rose 58% to a record T$572.5 billion, and Chief Executive C.C. Wei said demand tied to artificial intelligence remained “extremely robust.” Reuters also reported TSMC raised its full-year U.S.-dollar revenue growth forecast to more than 30%, from a prior outlook of close to 30%. (usnews.com) TSMC is the factory behind chips designed by companies including Nvidia and Apple, and it is one of the few manufacturers that can produce the most advanced processors at scale. CNBC reported first-quarter revenue rose 35% from a year earlier to NT$1.13 trillion, with March revenue alone up 45.2% year over year. (cnbc.com) That matters well beyond one earnings report because TSMC sits near the center of the artificial-intelligence hardware buildout. Reuters reported revenue from 3-nanometer chips accounted for 25% of first-quarter sales, up from 6% in the third quarter of 2023. (usnews.com) The outlook also fed directly into markets across Asia on April 16. Bloomberg reported an upbeat TSMC forecast helped drive a third straight day of gains for emerging-market equities, led by technology shares. (bloomberg.com) TSMC is also spending heavily to add capacity. Reuters reported the company said 2026 capital spending would land at the high end of its earlier $52 billion to $56 billion range, while TSMC said in March 2025 that its total planned United States investment would reach $165 billion. (usnews.com) (pr.tsmc.com) The company’s scale gives those expansion plans unusual weight. TrendForce said TSMC held 67.6% of the global wafer foundry market in the first quarter of 2025, underscoring how much of the chip industry depends on its factories. (taipeitimes.com) For investors, the next test is whether TSMC can keep converting AI demand into more output without losing margin. Thursday’s guidance said, for now, that its factories are still running full and customers are still ordering more. (investor.tsmc.com)
