TSMC just posted a 69% profit jump. Investors shrugged anyway.
Net profit hit NT$763.1 billion, up nearly 69% year over year, and TSMC raised its full-year revenue guidance to roughly 44% growth in dollar terms. None of it stopped a US$1.6 trillion six-day wipeout in semiconductor stocks or an 18-24% weekly fall in Samsung and SK Hynix, because the question investors are now pricing is whether Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet and Meta can keep funding roughly $600 billion of 2026 AI infrastructure spending without the returns to show for it yet. JPMorgan says 2026 earnings estimates for Asian chip firms have risen 89% since January against 22% for US peers, which is either validation or the exact kind of consensus that gets crushed on one disappointing capex call. South Korean data-centre IPO Elice opened 16% below issue price and fell as much as 33% in its debut, a cleaner read on sentiment than any single earnings beat.
Sources
- Asian tech stocks fall as unease over AI spending builds — Morningstar
- TSMC profit jumps nearly 70% on AI demand — Investinglive
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