TSMC Q3 Revenue Hits Record NT$1.49 Trillion, Up 50%, Ahead of 2nm-Focused Earnings Call

TSMC reported September revenue of NT$511.86bn, topping NT$500bn for a second straight month and up 54.6% year on year, which lifted third-quarter revenue to a record NT$1.49 trillion, or about US$46.71bn, according to Reuters. That is up 50% year on year and ahead of the LSEG SmartEstimate of NT$1.46tn compiled from forecasts by 19 analysts. The result also beat the foundry's own third-quarter guidance issued at its July earnings call, which had projected revenue of US$44.6bn to US$45.8bn, implying 12% sequential growth and a 37% year-over-year increase at the midpoint, equivalent to roughly NT$1.427tn to NT$1.466tn at an assumed NT$32 exchange rate.

Attention now turns to profitability at the 15 October online earnings call. LSEG analysts cited by Reuters expect third-quarter net profit to rise 64% year on year to NT$740.8bn. TSMC had guided gross margin of 65%-67% and operating margin of 56%-58%, both below the second quarter's 67.7% and 60.3%, with the dilution attributed largely to the 2nm ramp. Cumulative revenue for the first nine months of 2026 reached approximately NT$3.899tn, up 41.1% from a year earlier.

The September figure beat analyst expectations by a wide margin: Economic Daily News reported analysts had projected NT$444.8bn to NT$483.2bn, implying a much steeper monthly decline of 6.1%-13.6%, whereas the actual fall was just 0.6% month on month and the second-highest monthly total on record. Central News Agency attributed the record quarter to robust AI demand and a pickup in inventory building ahead of new smartphone launches. Looking ahead, analysts cited by Central News Agency expect revenue to climb further in the fourth quarter, fuelled by demand for NVIDIA's Vera Rubin platform and TSMC's 2nm process technology.