TSMC third-quarter profit beats expectations as AI boom drives 54% hike

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company on Thursday reported a 54% hike in net profit, as global chipmakers continue to benefit from demand boosted by AI applications.

The company’s net income was 352.3 billion Taiwanese dollars ($10.1 billion) over the July-September quarter, surpassing an LSEG estimate of $300.2 billion Taiwanese dollars cited by Reuters.

TSMC is the world’s largest producer of advanced chips, serving clients such as Apple and Nvidia.

Net revenue came in at $23.5 billion in the third quarter, up 36% year-on-year, with TSMC’s gross margin rising to 57.8% over July-September, compared with 54.3% in the same period of last year.

Capital expenditure edged higher to $6.4 billion in the third quarter, versus $6.36 billion across the three preceding months.

TSMC’s earnings beat comes the same week as Netherlands-based ASML, which supplies machines to the Taiwanese company, issued a lower-than-expected forecast of net sales, sending shares tumbling.

This breaking news story is being updated.