Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp., the world’s biggest semiconductor manufacturer, reported an unexpected jump in its net profit for the July-September quarter.
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Beating analysts’ forecasts, the Taiwanese chipmaking giant TSMC said on Thursday that its net profit surged by 39.1% in the last quarter, boosted by a surge in AI use.
The company reporteda record net profit of 452.3 billion new Taiwan dollars (€12.64bn) in the July-September quarter, higher than analysts' forecasts.
The company earlier said its revenue jumped 30% year-on-year in the last quarter.
“Our business in the third quarter was supported by strong demand for our leading-edge process technologies,” said Wendell Huang, senior VP and chief financial officer of TSMC.
The semiconductor firm has been building chip fabrication plants in the United States and Japan to help hedge against risks from China-US trade tensions. The chipmaker is a major supplier to companies such as Apple and Nvidia.
"Demand for TSMC's products is unyielding," Morningstar analysts wrote in a note this month. "Given TSMC's dominance, we doubt the company would be hindered if it faced tariffs on shipments to US customers. We expect AI demand to stay resilient."
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick proposed last month that computer chip production be divided 50-50 between Taiwan and the US. Taiwan, where the majority of global chip manufacturing is currently based, rejected that idea.
The company has committed $100bn (€86bn) in US investments, including building new factories in Arizona, on top of $65bn (€55.8bn) that it pledged earlier.
“Moving into fourth quarter 2025, we expect our business to be supported by continued strong demand for our leading-edge process technologies," Huang said.
Based on the company’s current business outlook, they expect revenue to be at least €27.62bn (between $32.2bn and $33.4bn), in the fourth quarter of 2025. In 2024, fourth-quarter revenue came in at around €24.3bn.
