TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, a leading maker of advanced chips used in artificial intelligence systems, reported on Thursday that it forecast a 54% jump in third-quarter profit after rising demand.
The world's largest contract manufacturer, whose customers include Apple (NASDAQ: ) and Nvidia (NASDAQ: ), has benefited from the surge toward AI in many industries.
TSMC posted a net profit of T$325.3 billion ($10.11 billion) in the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared to T$300.2 billion predicted by LSEG SmartEstimate derived from 22 analysts. SmartEstimates gives more weight to forecasts from analysts that are consistently accurate.
TSMC, Asia's most valuable publicly-listed company, said third-quarter revenue rose 36% year-on-year to $23.5 billion, better than the company's previous forecast of $22.4 billion to $23.2 billion. The company last week announced its third quarter revenue in Taiwan dollars, coming in at T$759.69 billion.
Capital spending in the third quarter was $6.4 billion, TSMC said, compared to $6.36 billion in the second quarter.
On Tuesday, ASML (AS:), the world's largest supplier of construction materials to companies including TSMC, forecast a lower than expected 2025 and booking with continued weakness in parts of the chip market, causing the Dutch company's shares to fall sharply in one day. since 1998.
TSMC, in its quarterly earnings call starting at 0600 GMT on Thursday, will update its outlook for the current quarter and full year, including its capital expenditures, as it races to boost production.
The chip maker is spending billions of dollars building new factories overseas, including $65 billion for three plants in the US state of Arizona, although it has said most manufacturing will remain in Taiwan.
In its last earnings call in July, TSMC raised its full-year revenue forecast and adjusted its capital spending plans for this year to between $30 billion and $32 billion, compared to a previous forecast of $28 billion to for 32 dollars.
The second half of the year is typically peak season for Taiwanese technology companies as they rush to serve customers ahead of the year-end holiday season in major Western markets.
The AI boom has helped lift shares of TSMC, with its Taipei-listed stock up 75% so far this year, compared with a 28% gain for the broader market, giving it a market capitalization of about $840 billion.
TSMC, collectively called in Taiwan the “sacred mountain that protects the country” for its important role in Taiwan's foreign-dependent economy, faces little competition, although Intel (NASDAQ: ) and Samsung (KS: ) are trying to challenge its dominance. .
($1 = 32.1700 Taiwan dollars)
