Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Sponsored ADR (TSM)

TSM's stock price has risen significantly over the past six months, reaching multiple record highs. From May 9, 2025, to May 8, 2026, the share price increased by 133.14%, driven by demand for AI chips, strong quarterly results, and favorable policy developments. On April 15, 2026, TSM reported a 58% year-over-year increase in first-quarter 2026 profits due to robust AI chip orders, leading management to raise its 2026 revenue growth forecast to over 30%. On May 8, 2026, the company announced its consolidated revenue for April 2026 reached NT$410.73 billion, a 17.5% year-over-year increase.

Demand for TSM's products is influenced by seasonality, particularly related to the smartphone market and semiconductor industry inventory levels. Historically, weak economic demand, smartphone seasonality, and high inventory levels have caused TSM's revenue to hit a bottom, such as in the first quarter of 2019. Growth is expected to pick up in the second half of the year as semiconductor inventory levels fall and seasonal demand, coupled with new product launches in mobile and high-performance computing markets, boost order volumes. The broader technology sector typically exhibits seasonal strength from October to February.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (TSM) is a leading semiconductor contract manufacturing and design company with approximately 70% of the global market share in 2025. TSM specializes in manufacturing integrated circuits, mask services, integrated circuit packaging, and multi-wafer foundry services, serving major technology companies like Nvidia, Apple, Broadcom, and Qualcomm. The company's growth is driven by the AI boom, as it produces advanced chips essential for AI applications. TSM is a technological leader, pioneering 7-nanometer and 5-nanometer production capabilities and commercializing ASML's EUV lithography technology, with products used across various markets including high-performance computing, smartphones, IoT, automotive, and digital consumer electronics.

Headquartered in Hsinchu Science Park, Taiwan, TSM has a significant global manufacturing presence, including six 12-inch wafer GIGAFAB® fabs, four 8-inch wafer fabs, and one 6-inch wafer fab in Taiwan. Internationally, TSM operates two 12-inch wafer fabs through subsidiaries in China and the USA, and a 12-inch wafer fab in Japan. In 2024, the company began constructing a specialty technology fab in Dresden, Germany. TSM provides customer support and engineering services through offices in North America, Europe, Japan, China, and South Korea.

TSM has a strong brand reputation as the world's largest dedicated chip foundry and a leader in advanced semiconductor manufacturing. Its technological leadership in nanometer-scale production positions it at the forefront of innovation, particularly in the AI market. The company's pure-play foundry model has made it an indispensable partner for major tech giants. However, TSM's concentration of advanced manufacturing in Taiwan has raised geopolitical concerns, leading to the Silicon Shield theory. To mitigate these risks, TSM is diversifying its manufacturing footprint with investments in the U.S., Japan, and Germany.

TSM has a broad ownership base, including 3234 institutional owners and shareholders. Major institutional owners include Fmr Llc, Sanders Capital, LLC, Capital World Investors, Capital International Investors, Jpmorgan Chase & Co, Fisher Asset Management, LLC, Van Eck Associates Corp, Jane Street Group, Llc, BlackRock, Inc., and Susquehanna International Group, Llp. The National Development Fund Executive Yuan is the largest individual shareholder, owning 6.38% of the company's shares.