AI and advanced chips support revenue growth
October sales increased 14.7% from September and exceeded the previous record of NT$514.81 billion set in August 2026, according to company data reported by Taiwan's Central News Agency, or Focus Taiwan, on Nov. 10.
TSMC, the world's largest contract chip manufacturer, produces chips for designers including AMD, Apple and Nvidia, which do not operate their own fabrication plants. Demand for chips used in data centers running artificial intelligence applications has supported its business.
Analysts cited by Focus Taiwan attributed October's revenue growth to strong demand for chips produced with TSMC's 2-nanometer process. They said that demand helped increase shipments. The process is the company's most advanced chipmaking technology in commercial production.
For the first 10 months of 2026, TSMC reported revenue of NT$4,485.62 billion, a 43.3% increase over the corresponding period of 2025. The company released those figures in its official October revenue report on Nov. 10.
October sales run ahead of quarterly expectations
The October result puts TSMC ahead of the fourth-quarter sales pace implied by FactSet estimates.
At its investor conference in mid-October, the company forecast fourth-quarter 2026 consolidated revenue of $52.3 billion to $54.3 billion, Focus Taiwan reported. The midpoint would mark growth of 58% from a year earlier and 14% from the third quarter.
Using the guidance's assumed exchange rate of NT$31.8 per U.S. dollar, that range is roughly NT$1.66 trillion to NT$1.73 trillion. Analysts estimated, based on the guidance, that monthly consolidated sales in November and December would fall between NT$538.1 billion and NT$569.9 billion, according to Focus Taiwan.
TSMC also increased its full-year 2026 sales growth forecast in mid-October to about 44% in U.S. dollar terms, compared with its July projection of slightly more than 40%. Focus Taiwan said the company attributed the higher forecast to robust demand for its advanced manufacturing processes.
Shares remain below October peak
TSM shares traded slightly higher at $389.62 before Tuesday's market open. The move followed Monday's 3.5% gain to a closing price of $388.62, when chip stocks rallied broadly.
Despite those gains, the stock remained below its key moving averages and well short of the record $487.47 reached on Oct. 5. A sharp decline began the following day alongside losses in other stocks in the Philadelphia semiconductor index, known as SOX.
The shares also fell after TSMC's Oct. 15 third-quarter report, even though the company beat expectations and raised its outlook.
