TSMC to invest another $100 billion in US as Q2 profit blows past forecasts

TSMC will invest an additional $100 billion in Arizona chip factories, reinforcing its bullish AI demand outlook after second-quarter profit surged 77% to a record $22 billion, beating forecasts. The investment supports U.S. semiconductor manufacturing and adds to $165 billion already committed, as CEO C.C. Wei cited strong customer signals for AI megatrends.

By Wen-Yee Lee, Ben Blanchard and Faith Hung TAIPEI, July 16 Reuters - TSMC, the world's main producer of advanced AI chips and a major Nvidia supplier, pledged on Thursday to invest a further $100 billion in the U.S. state of Arizona in a win for President Donald Trump, who has pushed for more chipmaking at home. Reinforcing its bullish viewpoint on AI demand, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co <2330.TW raised its forecast for capital spending by up to 14% for this year. "Our customers and customers', who are mainly the cloud service providers, continue to provide us with their very strong signal and positive outlook," company CEO C.C. Wei told an earnings conference. "Thus, our conviction in the multi-year AI megatrend remains very high." The upbeat outlook came after TSMC, a bellwether for AI chip demand, posted a 77% jump in second-quarter profit to a record high of T$706.6 billion $22 billion , beating a market forecast of T$632.6 billion and marking its ninth straight quarter of double-digit percentage growth. Capital expenditure for 2026, a key indicator of management's confidence in the durability of AI demand, is forecast to be between $60 billion and $64 billion, compared with previous guidance of the high end of between $52 billion and $56 billion, it said. The company also said that its capital spending in the next three years will be "even more significantly higher" than the past three years. Thriving on surging demand for advanced chips used in AI applications, TSMC's further $100 billion investment in Arizona would add to already-announced investments of $165 billion to build chip factories there. The investment comes amid Trump's repeated accusation that Taiwan is stealing American semiconductor business. He has said that by the time he leaves office, the U.S. will have 50% of the world's semiconductor manufacturing capacity. "We believe this investment will help to further foster the development of the U.S. semiconductor ecosystem, strengthen the supply chain, and support an increasing number of high-tech, high-paying jobs in the United States," Wei said. An additional four plants would probably be built in Arizona, including for advanced packaging and adding to the eight already being built or planned, though the timeline for the additional ones would depend on the "market situation", he added. In a separate announcement on Thursday, the U.S. Commerce Department said TSMC's additional investment "highlights the Trump Administration's commitment to strengthening domestic manufacturing and U.S. technological leadership through strategic partnerships and investment."