TSMC raises 2026 sales growth forecast above 40% on AI demand

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. ↘ 10.78% on Thursday raised its 2026 revenue growth forecast to more than 40 percent in U.S. dollar terms and lifted capital expenditure guidance to between $60 billion and $64 billion, underscoring the chipmaker's confidence in sustained demand for artificial intelligence computing.

Upgraded Outlook

Speaking at an investor conference, TSMC Chairman C.C. Wei said the company's clients gave a positive business outlook for the year, with AI applications driving robust demand despite uncertainties in the broader consumer electronics market. The revised sales forecast marks the second upgrade this year — TSMC initially projected growth of "closer to 30 percent" in January, raised that to "more than 30 percent" in April, and has now pushed it above 40 percent.focustaiwan+2

The new capex range of $60 billion to $64 billion represents at least a $4 billion increase from the $52 billion to $56 billion budgeted in April. Chief Financial Officer Wendell Huang said 70 to 80 percent of spending will go toward advanced process development, with the remainder split between specialty technologies and high-end assembly and testing.finance.yahoo+2

Record Quarter and Forward Guidance

The upgrades came alongside record second-quarter results. Revenue rose 36 percent year-over-year to NT$1.27 trillion, while analysts had expected a roughly 59 percent jump in net profit to about NT$633 billion. TSMC projected third-quarter revenue of $44.6 billion to $45.8 billion, which at the midpoint would represent a 12 percent sequential increase.bloomberg+2

Gross margins are expected to ease slightly to 65 to 67 percent in the current quarter, from 67.7 percent in the June period, as spending on new capacity ramps up.focustaiwan

Broader Implications

TSMC is the primary manufacturing partner for Nvidia ↘ 9.26% and Apple ↘ 1.53%, placing it at the center of the AI infrastructure buildout by hyperscale cloud providers. Despite the stronger outlook, U.S.-listed shares slipped about 4 percent in premarket trading Thursday as investors took profits on a stock that had already gained nearly 40 percent year to date.finance.yahoo+1

The higher spending plan signals that TSMC expects AI-driven demand to persist well beyond this year. "The massive future investments aim to provide the company's shareholders with good returns," Huang told investors.focustaiwan