Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing is scheduled to report third-quarter results on Thursday. Here is what you need to know:
NET PROFIT: The world's largest contract chip maker's net profit likely surged 62% from a year earlier to 731.77 billion New Taiwan dollars, equivalent to US$22.90 billion, in the third quarter, according to a FactSet poll of 26 analysts.
REVENUE: The Taiwanese company's third-quarter revenue jumped 51% to NT$1.494 trillion, or US$46.76 billion, exceeding its guidance of between US$44.6 billion and US$45.8 billion.
TSMC's shares rose only 2.9% in the third quarter after logging double-digit gains in consecutive quarters. High oil prices triggering renewed inflation concerns, elevated bond yields and concerns about massive artificial-intelligence investment have all weighed on chip stocks broadly. Still, TSMC's shares have risen more than 60% so far this year, roughly in line with the benchmark Taiex's performance.
WHAT TO WATCH:
--Investors will look for management's updates on TSMC's potential expansion plans in Texas after Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk confirmed early-stage discussions with TSMC about a potential collaboration on its Terafab project in Texas. The chip maker in July said it would invest an additional US$100 billion in Arizona, bringing its total U.S. commitment to US$265 billion.
--TSMC's third-quarter revenue beat its guidance, leading some analysts to expect another full-year revenue outlook upgrade from the chip maker, which currently projects growth of slightly above 40%. Investors will also pay attention to the company's 2027 outlook. According to Citi analysts, TSMC could deliver more than 40% revenue growth into 2027 amid robust AI compute demand, potential gains from agentic AI and the emergence of a co-packaged optics networking cycle.
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