TSMC Posts Record August Revenue as AI Chip Demand Outstrips Capacity

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (NYSE: TSM), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, reported record August revenue of NT$514.8bn (about $16.3bn), up 53.3% year-on-year. It was the foundry’s fourth consecutive monthly record, driven by demand for AI chips.

TSM shares were last quoted at $435.36 in pre-market trading, down 0.83% from Wednesday’s close of $439.00. The stock remains well within its 52-week range of $256.03 to $479.00 and is up roughly 60% so far this year.

The August figure was up 10.1% month-on-month, and cumulative revenue for January to August rose 39.3% year-on-year to roughly NT$3.39 trillion. TSMC is simultaneously constructing or fitting out around 20 factories, or fabs, at home and overseas, four to five times its historical pace, yet still cannot keep up. Cliff Hou, TSMC’s Deputy Co-Chief Operating Officer, said: “Right now you’re almost 4x or 5x, trying to catch up, but still you cannot meet demand.”

That capacity crunch links directly to the Nvidia and AMD AI-chip supply chain. AMD (NASDAQ: AMD) Chief Financial Officer Jean Hu said this week: “You should expect us to continue to view TSMC as our primary supplier on the wafer side,” confirming TSMC as AMD’s main source of wafers, the silicon discs chips are cut from. Analysts had on average expected 46.8% sales growth for TSMC’s current quarter, and the foundry has beaten consensus revenue estimates in each of the last four quarters.

Despite the record numbers, TSM’s muted share move likely reflects how much of the AI capex story is already priced into a stock that has climbed sharply this year, rather than any disappointment with the figures themselves. The next scheduled catalyst is TSMC’s third-quarter earnings report, due on 15 October.