AI Chip Boom... TSMC October Revenue Surges 60% Year Over Year

by Cha Minyoung

Published 10 Nov.2026 16:01(KST)

October revenue reaches NT$586.9 billion
Benefits from growth in the global AI semiconductor market
"Jensen Huang CEO risk" remains a source of uncertainty

October revenue at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world's largest contract chipmaker, surged about 60% from the same period last year. The increase was driven by higher orders for advanced semiconductors from major customers such as NVIDIA and AMD, as investment in AI infrastructure expanded.

The logo of Taiwan's TSMC, the world's largest foundry. Reuters-Yonhap News

According to Taiwan's United Daily News (UDN) and U.S. business news network CNBC, TSMC announced on Nov. 10 that its October revenue came to NT$586.89 billion (approximately KRW 23.8746 trillion). That was up 59.7% year over year and 14.7% from the previous month. Cumulative revenue from January through October this year totaled NT$4.485617 trillion, an increase of 43.3% from the same period last year.

In its third-quarter results announced in October, TSMC reported net income of NT$763.1 billion, setting a new record. Revenue totaled NT$1.49 trillion. Its third-quarter operating margin was 58.7%, above the upper end of the company's forecast range of 58%.

The strong results were driven by growth in the global AI semiconductor market. As NVIDIA, AMD and major cloud service providers expand investment in AI data centers and other areas, demand for TSMC's advanced 3-nanometer and 5-nanometer process technologies remains strong.

The next-generation 2-nanometer process has also entered the ramp-up phase of mass production. As customers begin adopting new products in earnest, the process is expected to become a key growth driver next year. Demand is also increasing for Chip on Wafer on Substrate (CoWoS), an advanced packaging technology needed to improve the computing performance of AI semiconductors, and TSMC continues to expand its related production capacity.

TSMC plans to increase capital investment to meet this growing demand. The company expects capital expenditures (CAPEX) in 2026-2028 to be substantially higher than in the preceding three years.

However, UDN noted that management uncertainty surrounding NVIDIA, one of TSMC's largest customers, has emerged as a potential risk. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang recently acknowledged having an affair with Alice Huang (Chinese name: Huang Le), a senior executive at Singaporean data center company Megaspeed. NVIDIA has launched an internal investigation into the matter.