Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is expected to report its sixth straight quarter of record profit.
Demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips and advanced chip-packaging technology keeps growing. The profit number, however, is still a forecast. TSMC will announce its July-September results on Thursday, October 15,2026.
Analysts expect the world's largest contract chipmaker to report third-quarter net profit of about NT$746.3 billion (US$23.4 billion). The number amounts to roughly 65% higher than a year earlier.
TSMC has already reported record third-quarter revenue of NT$1,49 trillion, or about US$46.71 billion. THat is up 50% from the same quarter last year and above what the market expected. The company has not yet reported on its net profit.
TSMC makes advanced chips designed by other companies. Its customers include Nvidia, whose processors are widely used for AI computing, and Apple. AI systems need powerful chips to train models, answer questions and create images. Technology companies are spending heavily on data centers and the equipment to run them, and TSMC benefits.
The company also offers advanced packaging, including a technology called CoWoS (Chip-on-Wafer-on-Substrate). It combines several chips into a single package for high-performance computing. Analysts say demand for both chip-making and packaging stays strong, and demand for TSMC’s 3-nanometer chips is also expected to support growth.
The earnings report will also give an outlook for the fourth quarter and the full year. Morgan Stanley analyst Charlie Chan expects TSMC to raise its full-year revenue-growth forecast into the low-to-mid 40% range, up from guidance of more than 40%.
TSMC raised its 2026 capital-spending forecast in July to between US$60 billion and US$64 billion.
Capital spending is money put into factories, equipment and other long-term assets. The company is building factories in Arizona and has been reported to be considering an investment in Texas. Analysts differ on how urgently further expansion is needed. Building advanced chip plants is costly and takes time, so TSMC must add capacity while meeting customer demand and managing costs.
The results will show whether strong AI demand is still turning into higher revenue and profit for the companies that make the chips behind it. They will also show how TSMC sees the coming quarters.
