By Debby Wu
10/15/2025 23:29:26 [BN]
Summary by Bloomberg AI
- Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. hiked its projection for 2025 revenue growth to the mid-30% range, sending a strong signal of confidence in demand for components like Nvidia Corp. chips that power AI.
- TSMC raised the lower end of its capital spending target for the year to at least $40 billion for capacity expansion and upgrades in 2025, after reporting a better-than-anticipated 39% jump in profit.
- The company’s results underscore how TSMC remains one of the bigger beneficiaries of a spending spree on AI infrastructure that’s expected to cross the $1 trillion mark in coming years.
(Bloomberg) — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. hiked its projection for 2025 revenue growth to the mid-30% range, sending a strong signal of confidence in demand for components like Nvidia Corp. chips that power AI.
TSMC also raised the lower end of its capital spending target for the year, after reporting a better-than-anticipated 39% jump in profit to NT$452.3 billion ($14.8 billion) in the September quarter. Taiwan’s largest company is now earmarking at least $40 billion for capacity expansion and upgrades in 2025, up from a floor of $38 billion previously.
The results underscore how TSMC, the go-to chipmaker for Apple Inc. and most of the world’s biggest semiconductor designers, remains one of the bigger beneficiaries of a spending spree on AI infrastructure that’s expected to cross the $1 trillion mark in coming years. From OpenAI to Oracle Corp., tech companies are racing to build the datacenters that underpin the technology in the post-ChatGPT era.
The investment rush, coupled with a rapid climbing tech stock valuations, has drawn comparisons to the dotcom bubble given the persistent absence of mainstream AI applications and services.
TSMC’s outlook hike is striking given it last raised revenue guidance in July. The company then said it expected growth of “about” 30%, while on Thursday executives now foresaw a gain in the mid-30% neighborhood.
As the world’s most advanced manufacturer of semiconductors, TSMC plays a dominant role in an AI investment frenzy with Nvidia at its heart. The company makes the powerful accelerators vital to the training and operation of AI services like ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini.
It’s also the sole maker of processors for the iPhone and many other gadgets, at a time consumer demand for electronics remains uncertain given the tit-for-tat US-China trade conflict.
Businesses across the global semiconductor supply chain are bracing for disruptions after China imposed curbs on rare-earth mineral exports — essential to most technology devices — and the US responded with additional tariffs and restrictions on software sales to the Asian nation.
Still, ASML Holding NV, a major supplier of gear to TSMC, on Wednesday said demand for its most sophisticated chip-making machines is soaring thanks to the artificial intelligence boom.
What Bloomberg Intelligence Says
TSMC’s guidance-busting preliminary 3Q sales of NT$990 billion (US$33.05 billion) reflected strong AI and iPhone chip demand, implying a gross margin at the high end of the forecast 55.5-57.5% range. This momentum is expected to continue into 4Q, when strong orders for Apple’s A19 and Nvidia’s Blackwell chips should largely offset typical seasonality and tariff-related headwinds. That’s likely to lead to a slight dip vs. 3Q, and less than the 11% full-year guidance pace.