TSMC posts sixth straight record profit on AI demand, guides Q4 higher
TSMC reported third-quarter 2026 net profit of NT$763.1bn, up about 69% from a year earlier, on revenue of NT$1.49tn, up roughly 51% — both above estimates and a sixth consecutive quarterly profit record. The company guided fourth-quarter revenue to $52.3bn–$54.3bn and raised its 2026 dollar revenue growth outlook to about 44%; high-performance computing was 68% of revenue, smartphones 21%, and 3nm chips 33% of wafer revenue. Chairman C.C. Wei said AI demand keeps rising and the supply-demand gap remains large, with agentic AI driving CPU and networking chip demand, while striking a cautious note on consumer and price-sensitive markets for 2027; TSMC kept 2026 capital spending at $60bn–$64bn and said it will add another 3nm fab in Tainan, with its second Arizona fab starting mass production in Q3 2027, ahead of schedule.
TSMC is the key foundry for Nvidia and Apple chips, so its results and capex guidance are a closely watched gauge of the AI infrastructure buildout; the company says AI demand still far exceeds its supply capacity.