Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company reported record net profit for the fourth quarter and at the same time announced a sharp increase in capital expenditures in the coming years, linking these plans to sustained demand growth driven by the development of artificial intelligence.
The world’s largest chipmaker said that for the quarter ended December 31, net profit reached TWD 505.7 billion ($16 billion), up 11.8 percent year-on-year. Revenue rose by 5.7 percent to TWD 1 trillion. Both figures exceeded TSMC’s own forecasts for revenue and gross margin.
“As we enter the first quarter of 2026, we expect our business to be supported by continued strong demand for our advanced process technologies,” said Wendell Huang, TSMC’s senior vice president and chief financial officer.
The Taiwanese company plays a pivotal role in the global economy, producing more than 90 percent of the world’s most advanced semiconductors. In recent years, it has widened its lead over competitors including Samsung and Intel, supplying chips to companies such as Nvidia, AMD, Broadcom, and Apple.
TSMC said it plans to allocate between $52 billion and $56 billion to capital expenditures in 2026, a move seen as a sign of continued large-scale investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Over the past 12 months, the company’s shares have risen by nearly 60 percent, making TSMC the world’s sixth-largest company by market capitalization—behind Nvidia, Alphabet, Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon.
Expectations of a prolonged boom in artificial intelligence have also been echoed by other market players. In its latest outlook, Samsung pointed to record quarterly profit, while Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang recently said that demand for its H200 chips, used in AI data centers, remains “very strong.”