TSMC expects record profit for sixth consecutive quarter amid AI boom

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. is expected to post its sixth straight quarter of record profit. The engine behind it is familiar: relentless demand for chips that power artificial intelligence. The numbers behind the streak TSMC, the world’s leading contract chipmaker, reported third-quarter 2026 revenue of NT$1.49 trillion, or approximately $46.71 billion. That is a 50% increase compared with the same period a year earlier. The figure cleared the company’s own bar. In July, TSMC guided Q3 revenue to a range of $44.6 billion to $45.8 billion, and the actual result landed above the top of that window. It also beat the LSEG SmartEstimate of NT$1.46 trillion. September did a lot of the heavy lifting. Revenue for that month alone reached NT$511.86 billion, up 54.6% year over year. Profit is where the record streak lives. Q3 net profit is expected to come in around NT$740.8 billion, which would represent a 64% increase from a year earlier and mark the sixth consecutive record quarter. For context, the fifth record arrived just one quarter ago. TSMC’s Q2 2026 net profit hit NT$706.6 billion, roughly $22 billion, a 77% jump year over year. Q2 revenue came in at NT$1.27 trillion, u...