The chipmaker pulled in a net income of NT$452.3 billion [€12.8 billion], easily topping market forecasts of NT$417.69 billion [€11.8 billion], while revenue soared to NT$989.92 billion [€28 billion].
That figure marks a 30.3 per cent rise from a year earlier and a 13.6 per cent lift from the previous quarter, giving the company its second straight quarter of double-digit gains. AI, it seems, continues to be the best kind of madness for anyone who makes the hardware that runs it.
TSMC chief executive CC Wei told investors that demand from artificial intelligence and high-performance computing remained relentless. The firm’s high-end chips are the muscle behind the GPUs and processors that power everything from Nvidia’s data centres to the Fruity Cargo Cult Apple’s latest silicon.
Wei said the market’s “momentum remains solid” as AI adoption keeps accelerating, pushing up demand for ever more powerful chips. TSMC’s high-performance computing division, which includes AI and 5G applications, made up 57 per cent of total sales in the July to September quarter. Chips made with 7-nanometre or smaller technology accounted for 74 per cent of total wafer revenue.
Wei raised TSMC’s 2025 revenue growth forecast to the mid-30 per cent range, up from the 30 per cent figure given in July.
Counterpoint Research analyst William Li said the result was “a direct reflection of the strong traction at 3nm as well as high utilisation at 4 and 5nm, both of which are being driven by ongoing orders from AI GPU and HPC customers and premium smartphone platforms.”
TSMC’s fabs continue to crank out the chips that keep the world’s machine-learning models and next-gen smartphones ticking, despite lingering supply chain headaches. The company’s advanced production nodes are running close to full tilt.
The US government has yanked TSMC’s Validated End User waiver, a special licence that allowed it to export chipmaking kit to its Nanjing plant in China without fresh paperwork. That disappears on 31 December.
The waiver was granted not long after Washington began tightening restrictions on chipmaking tool exports in 2022. Now, all equipment heading to TSMC’s Chinese facilities will need individual export licences.
“We are evaluating the situation and taking appropriate measures, including communicating with the US government, but we remain fully committed to ensuring the uninterrupted operation of TSMC Nanjing,” the company said.
Wei acknowledged that shifting trade policies and tariff threats are muddying the waters for consumer electronics, though TSMC is trying to mitigate the damage by expanding production in the US. The company’s Arizona plant, despite its teething troubles, is supposed to help cushion the blow.
TSMC is hardly alone in feeling the pinch. South Korea’s SK Hynix and Samsung lost their VEU privileges in the same round of US export clampdowns. The Bureau of Industry and Security called the change a closure of a “Biden-era loophole” that allowed chipmakers to skirt restrictions on sending advanced tools to China.
