16 April 2026
If you are covering the latest results from TSMC, please find below a comment from Ben Barringer, head of technology research at Quilter Cheviot:
“Like ASML yesterday, TSMC has taken advantage of its market leadership to deliver a really solid set of results. We already knew strong revenue was there, but pleasingly we are also seeing really strong margins and high utilisation. Essentially, TSMC’s fabs are running hot and the AI story just keeps delivering.
“The company raised its guidance for the year, alongside confirming capex at the top end of its guidance. Crucially, TSMC is also proving rather defensive in light of ongoing macroeconomic situations. While not completely shielded from increased energy costs, the company has done a great job at working with its supply chain to help mitigate these and keep margins strong.
“The company did note that the high memory price is likely to be demand destructive for consumer electronics and that this may ultimately be a headwind in time, but the demand from AI likely offsets those concerns. Furthermore, there remains the threat of competition emerging with the likes of Elon Musk building a fab with Intel and Japan looking to get in on the act. However, simply building a fab does not mean you can challenge TSMC so easily, given its market leadership and investment to date. TSMC remains the key semiconductor supplier to the industry, that is unlikely to change anytime soon and these results underscore just how strong its position is.”
