AI chip demand powered Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company to another record quarter, with first-quarter revenue surging 35% despite ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. The world's largest contract chipmaker reported NT$1.134 trillion ($35.6 billion) in revenue for January through March, exceeding analyst forecasts of NT$1.12 trillion compiled by LSEG and Bloomberg consensus estimates.
March sales alone jumped 45.2% year-over-year to NT$415.2 billion, marking the strongest monthly performance of the quarter with a 30.7% increase from February.
TSMC's results landed at the high end of its previous guidance range of $34.6 billion to $35.8 billion, with currency fluctuations pushing Taiwan dollar figures slightly above expectations due to exchange rates closer to NT$32 per U.S. dollar during part of the quarter.
Sustained demand from key customers Apple and Nvidia for advanced semiconductors drove the record performance, even as supply chain concerns persisted around Middle East conflicts and their potential impact on global logistics.
"We think TSMC will easily exceed its 30% annual growth target,"
Sravan Kundojjala, an analyst at SemiAnalysis, told CNBC by email. The company's advanced 3-nanometer process technology, which commands higher profit margins, remained strong during the ongoing artificial intelligence boom.
TSMC controls approximately 70% of the global advanced chip foundry market, manufacturing every major AI processor including NVIDIA's accelerators, Apple's custom silicon, and AMD's data center GPUs through its fabrication facilities.
Despite starting in late February right as Q1 entered its final stretch, the Iran war failed to dent AI chip orders according to market observers who had been watching for potential slowdowns due to supply chain anxiety.
Price increases on TSMC's leading-edge nodes also contributed meaningfully to the revenue beat tracking the semiconductor sector.
Today's monthly revenue disclosure precedes a full quarterly earnings call scheduled for April 16 where CEO C.C. Wei will provide margin data, guidance updates, and management commentary on demand trends for the rest of 2026.
For full-year 2026, TSMC previously guided for around 30% revenue growth in U.S. dollar terms, far higher than the 14% growth projected for the entire global pure play wafer foundry market, with today's Q1 performance well above that pace setting up potential upward revisions next week.
