TSMC reported net income of NT$505.7 billion (about $16 billion) for the quarter, up 35 percent year over year and exceeding analyst expectations. Revenue reached $33.7 billion, up 25.5 percent from the same period last year. The company expects revenue growth of about 30 percent in 2026 and plans to spend between $52 billion and $56 billion on capital expenditures this year, up from $40.9 billion in 2025.
Inquiries from customers’ customers
Wei’s optimism contrasts with months of speculation about whether the AI industry is in a bubble. In November, Google CEO Sundar Pichai warned of “irrationality” in the AI market and said no company would be immune if a potential bubble burst. OpenAI’s Sam Altman acknowledged in August that investors were “overexcited” and that “someone” would lose an “unprecedented amount of money.”
But TSMC, which makes the chips powering the AI boom, is betting the opposite way, with Wei telling analysts that he had spoken directly to cloud providers to verify that demand is real before committing to increased spending.
“I wanted to make sure my customers had real demands. So I talked to all those cloud service providers,” Wei said. “The answer is that I’m quite satisfied with the answer. In fact, they show me evidence that AI really helps their business.”
The earnings report came the same day the US and Taiwan finalized a trade deal, cutting tariffs on Taiwanese goods from 20 percent to 15 percent. The deal commits Taiwanese companies to $250 billion in direct U.S. investment, and TSMC is accelerating the expansion of its Arizona chip manufacturing facilities to match.
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