Jakarta, INTI - Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC), the world's largest contract chip manufacturer, posted a 58 percent surge in profit in the first quarter of 2026. On Thursday, April 16, AFP reported that this number surpassed market expectations and reached a record.
TSMC recorded a net profit of 572.5 billion Taiwan dollars (approximately Rp310 trillion) in the January until March period. This figure far exceeded the LSEG SmartEstimate forecast, which predicted a net profit of 543.3 billion Taiwan dollars.
TSMC Prepared Stock Inventory
TSMC's business is driven by strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) hardware. The company’s clients include Nvidia and Apple. TSMC Chief Financial Officer, Wendell Huang, said the company did not expect the war in the Middle East to impact the supply of key chipmaking materials like helium and hydrogen in the near future.
“We source from multiple suppliers in different regions, and we have prepared safety stock inventory on hand,” Huang said in an earnings call.
Governments and tech giants are investing hundreds of billions of US dollars to build data centers that can train and run AI tools such as chatbots, image generators, and task-executing agents.
Conclusion
TSMC posted a 58% jump in profit in the first quarter of 2026 to a record 572.5 billion Taiwan dollars, beating market expectations. The number was driven strongly by demand for artificial intelligence chips from clients such as Nvidia and Apple. The company also ensured a secure supply of key materials despite geopolitical tensions, as global investment in AI infrastructure and data centers increases.
Read more: A Separate App of Google’s Gemini AI Assistant is Launched on Apple’s macOS