TSMC's third-quarter revenue hits a record NT$1.49 trillion after a 54.6% jump in September sales

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. said Thursday that its September revenue rose 54.6% from a year earlier to NT$511.86 billion. Added to its July and August reports, that puts third-quarter revenue at about NT$1.49 trillion, the most the world's biggest contract chipmaker has taken in during any quarter and about 51% more than a year ago.

September was a touch softer than August, slipping 0.6% from that month's NT$514.81 billion, but the quarter as a whole grew 17.6% from the NT$1.27 trillion TSMC reported for April through June. July brought in NT$467.58 billion. Revenue for the first nine months of 2026 reached NT$3.90 trillion, up 41.1%, which is already more than the NT$3.81 trillion the company booked in all of 2025.

The pace has picked up as the year has gone on. That quarter-to-quarter gain was larger than the 12% rise from the first quarter's NT$1.13 trillion to the second, helped by a 10.1% jump in August from July.

Measured against TSMC's own forecast

TSMC forecasts revenue in U.S. dollars, not Taiwan dollars. In July it said third-quarter revenue would land between US$44.6 billion and US$45.8 billion, and it based its margin forecasts on an exchange rate of 32 Taiwan dollars to the U.S. dollar. At that rate the range works out to roughly NT$1.43 trillion to NT$1.47 trillion. The quarter's NT$1.49 trillion converts to about US$46.7 billion, around 2% above the top of the range.

That is an estimate, not the final dollar figure. TSMC will convert its revenue at the exchange rates it actually received during the quarter, and for the total to fall back inside the range, the Taiwan dollar would have needed to average weaker than about 32.6 per U.S. dollar. In the second quarter the gap between assumption and reality was small: TSMC had planned on 31.7 and the actual rate was 31.6. Its second-quarter revenue of US$40.20 billion landed right at the top of the US$39 billion to US$40.2 billion range it had forecast for that period.

The quarter also came in above the roughly NT$1.46 trillion that analysts had expected, according to an LSEG estimate cited by Reuters.

Where the demand is coming from

TSMC manufactures chips designed by other companies, including Nvidia and Apple, and its growth has been driven by demand for the advanced processors used in artificial intelligence. In July, chief financial officer Wendell Huang said he expected the third quarter to be supported by "continued strong demand for our leading-edge process technologies, including the steep ramp-up of our 2-nanometer technology." In the second quarter, chips made on 7-nanometer and more advanced processes accounted for 77% of wafer revenue, with 3-nanometer at 30% and the newest 2-nanometer process at 3%.

The monthly report itself gives only a revenue total. It does not break sales down by technology or customer, and it says nothing about profit.

What to watch on Oct. 15

TSMC will report full third-quarter results and update its outlook on Oct. 15 at 2 p.m. Taiwan time, which is 2 a.m. Eastern. Its July forecast called for a gross margin of 65% to 67% and an operating margin of 56% to 58%. In the second quarter it came in above both of the ranges it had set, with a gross margin of 67.7% and an operating margin of 60.3%. The company is in its pre-earnings quiet period through Oct. 14.

TSMC shares closed down 1.4% at NT$2,550 in Taipei on Thursday, before the revenue figures were released.