Chip stocks crash, TSMC’s profits don’t.
The world’s biggest contract chipmaker grew net profit 69% and guided for another strong quarter.
It is the clearest sign yet that AI chip demand is still strong, even as investors dump chip stocks from Seoul to Tokyo.
TSMC’s Q3 2026 net profit rose 68.7% to a record NT$763.1B (about $23.6B), its sixth straight record quarter, beating the NT$746.3B consensus.
Revenue was about $46.7B, up 41% from a year earlier and above its own guidance of $44.6–45.8B.
Gross margin was 66.4%. Q4 revenue is guided at $52.3–54.3B. High-performance computing, which includes AI chips, made up 68% of revenue.
TSMC’s results show the AI spending is still flowing. The market’s worry is not current demand but how long it lasts and who is borrowing to pay for it.
The WBW take
TSMC sits at the narrowest point of the AI supply chain, because almost every advanced AI chip is made in its factories. While it keeps beating its own guidance, claims that AI demand is collapsing are hard to support. What’s under pressure is the price investors will pay for these companies, not their earnings.