Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. reported record TSMC Q3 2026 revenue of NT$1.49 trillion ($46.71 billion) on October 8, a result that beat market forecasts and rose 50% from the year-earlier period on surging demand for artificial intelligence applications. The world’s largest contract chipmaker announced the results in a brief monthly revenue statement, underscoring just how central advanced semiconductors have become to the global AI boom, Reuters reported.
The result beat an LSEG SmartEstimate drawn from 19 analysts, which had predicted third-quarter revenue of NT$1.46 trillion. It also came in above the company’s own July guidance of $44.6 billion to $45.8 billion in revenue — TSMC gives its forecasts only in U.S. dollars, not Taiwan dollars.
Photo: 4300streetcar / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0). File photo — TSMC Fab 18 in Southern Taiwan Science Park.
TSMC Q3 2026 revenue: the numbers
The July–September quarter brought in NT$1.49 trillion, compared with NT$989.92 billion in the same period a year earlier, according to Reuters’ calculations. For September alone, revenue rose 54.6% year over year to NT$511.86 billion — though it dipped 0.6% from August, suggesting the pace may be leveling off month to month even as the annual comparison keeps climbing, The Business Times reported.
For the first nine months of 2026, revenue totaled NT$3.90 trillion, up 41.1% from the same period in 2025. TSMC, which is Asia’s most valuable publicly listed company with a market capitalization of about $2.1 trillion, did not provide detailed commentary or forward guidance in its brief monthly revenue statement.
AI chip demand at the core of the surge
TSMC is a major supplier to companies including Nvidia and Apple, placing it at the center of the global race for AI accelerators, advanced CPUs, GPUs, and high-end mobile silicon. The company’s advanced manufacturing nodes — and its CoWoS advanced packaging technology — have become a bottleneck for the entire AI hardware supply chain, because modern AI processors need extremely fast links between compute dies and high-bandwidth memory.
That positioning has made TSMC one of the biggest beneficiaries of the AI infrastructure investment boom. Nvidia, whose chips TSMC fabricates, has been the market’s flagship AI winner — see our coverage of Nvidia’s AI chip sales push in China — a dynamic that keeps TSMC’s order books full even as other segments of the semiconductor industry grow more slowly. The company is also expanding production capacity overseas, including in the United States, to strengthen supply chains, TradingKey reported.
Photo: 4300streetcar / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0). File photo — TSMC Fab 14B in Tainan, Taiwan.
Samsung’s record quarter on the same day
TSMC wasn’t the only chip giant riding the AI wave on Thursday. Samsung Electronics earlier in the day projected its quarterly operating profit would top 100 trillion won — a world first for a technology company — estimating a nearly nine-fold jump in third-quarter earnings as booming demand for AI chips drove strong memory sales, Reuters reported.
The memory side of the market has been particularly strong: Micron recently reported record AI memory demand with a $150 billion backlog, and the AI memory cycle shows little sign of cooling.
Photo: 4300streetcar / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0). File photo — trucks entering and leaving TSMC Fab 18.
What to watch: the October 15 earnings call
TSMC is scheduled to report its full third-quarter earnings next Thursday, when it will also update its outlook and plans for the current quarter and the rest of the year. Analysts are expecting a strong profit print to match the revenue beat: an LSEG SmartEstimate puts third-quarter net profit at about NT$740.8 billion, up roughly 64% from a year earlier, according to Reuters.
TSMC’s Taipei-listed shares closed down 1.35% on Thursday ahead of the revenue release, with the broader market down about 1% — but the stock has still risen 64.52% so far this year, in line with the broader market’s AI-driven rally.
Guidance for the fourth quarter will be the key signal. With September revenue accelerating at 54.6% year over year, investors will be watching for any sign that AI chip demand is finally cooling — or confirmation that the AI supercycle still has room to run.
TSMC Q3 2026 revenue: frequently asked questions
How much revenue did TSMC report for Q3 2026?
TSMC reported record third-quarter 2026 revenue of NT$1.49 trillion ($46.71 billion), up 50% year over year. The result beat the LSEG SmartEstimate of NT$1.46 trillion from 19 analysts and came in above the company’s own July guidance of $44.6 billion to $45.8 billion.
Why is TSMC’s revenue growing so fast?
Surging demand for artificial intelligence applications. TSMC is the world’s largest contract chipmaker and a key supplier to Nvidia and Apple, fabricating the advanced chips used in AI accelerators and data centers. September revenue alone rose 54.6% year over year, showing demand is still accelerating on an annual basis.
When does TSMC report its full Q3 earnings?
TSMC is scheduled to report its full third-quarter earnings on October 15, including net profit and an updated outlook for the current quarter and the rest of the year. Analysts expect net profit of about NT$740.8 billion, up roughly 64% year over year.
How did Samsung do in the same quarter?
Samsung Electronics projected record quarterly operating profit of more than 100 trillion won for the third quarter — a world first for a technology company — estimating a nearly nine-fold increase from a year earlier on strong AI memory chip sales.
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