TAIPEI—Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world's largest contract chipmaker, raised its full-year sales outlook on Thursday after reporting record second-quarter profit that comfortably beat market expectations, citing sustained demand for advanced chips used in artificial intelligence applications.
The company said April-June net profit rose 77% from a year earlier to a record T$706.6 billion (about $22 billion), exceeding analyst estimates compiled by LSEG. Quarterly revenue climbed 36% to T$1.27 trillion, driven by continued strong demand for advanced manufacturing technologies and chip packaging used in AI infrastructure.
TSMC said it now expects its full-year 2026 revenue to increase by more than 40% in U.S. dollar terms, raising its previous growth forecast of close to 30%. The company also increased its 2026 capital expenditure guidance to between $60 billion and $64 billion, up from the earlier range of $52 billion to $56 billion, reflecting confidence in long-term AI-related demand.
Chief Executive C.C. Wei said demand for AI chips remained "extremely robust," with strong orders for the company's leading-edge 3-nanometre and 2-nanometre process technologies as well as its advanced CoWoS packaging capacity. The company said it continued to expand manufacturing capacity in Taiwan and overseas to support customer demand.
TSMC is a key supplier to Nvidia and Apple and is widely regarded as a bellwether for global semiconductor demand. The company recently announced plans to invest an additional $100 billion in U.S. manufacturing, bringing its total planned investment in Arizona to $265 billion.
TSMC said demand related to artificial intelligence continued to underpin its outlook, while the broader market environment remains subject to macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties.
