Shares shifted sharply higher as Taiwan Semiconductor reported first-quarter revenue of $35.7 billion, a 35% year-over-year jump that set a new quarterly record and confirmed that the global AI spending wave hasn't crested yet. The figure topped the NT$1.12 trillion analyst consensus , lifting TSM +3.35% to $377.72 on April 10 — roughly five times the NASDAQ's gain. For shareholders, the message is straightforward: the single most important factory in the AI supply chain is still running hot.
AI Orders Are Masking Weakness Everywhere Else
Memory shortages weighed on demand from smartphone and PC customers, but AI-related orders picked up the slack.
TSMC's high-performance computing division, which includes AI and 5G applications, made up 55% of sales in Q4 2025 , and that share is almost certainly rising. Investors should note the growing concentration risk: if hyperscale cloud companies ever slow their data-center buildouts, the consumer business may not be strong enough to compensate.
Price Hikes Are Doing Heavy Lifting
Price increases on TSMC's leading-edge chips have also contributed meaningfully, with SemiAnalysis analyst Sravan Kundojjala describing the hikes as a "big factor" in the revenue outperformance.
Kundojjala put his gross margin forecast at 64% — well above the 59.9% full-year 2025 level. Higher prices mean more cash per chip, which matters because TSMC is about to spend record sums.
A $56 Billion Bet on Keeping the Lead
TSMC plans capital spending of $52–$56 billion in 2026 , up from $40.9 billion in 2025. Nvidia alone is said to have booked a majority of TSMC's advanced packaging capacity through 2027, creating a bottleneck that has competitors scrambling. The company holds roughly 71% foundry market share up from 64.9% just a year earlier — but maintaining that dominance means plowing almost every incremental dollar back into factories and equipment.
The April 16 Call Is the Real Test
TSMC will report full first-quarter earnings on April 16, including an updated outlook for the current quarter and the full year.
Focus will be on updated full-year guidance, advanced packaging capacity timelines, and margin trends. Today's revenue print is a headline number only — no margin or profit data was included. Whether the stock can hold above $377 depends on management confirming that surging capex translates into sustained earnings growth, not just bigger factories.