TSMC first-quarter profit rises 58%, beats estimates as AI demand fuels record run

-TSMC posted a 58% profit jump, driven by strong AI chip demand.

-Revenue beat forecasts, marking a fourth straight quarterly record.

-TSMC said advanced chips accounted for about 75% of total wafer revenue in the quarter.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company

on Thursday reported a 58% increase in first-quarter profit, beating estimates and hitting a fresh record as demand for artificial intelligence chips stayed strong.

Here are the company’s results versus LSEG SmartEstimates, which are weighted toward forecasts from analysts who are more consistently accurate:

-Revenue: 1.134 trillion new Taiwan dollars ($35 billion), vs. NT$1.127 trillion expected

-Net income: NT$572.48 billion, vs. NT$543.32 billion

TSMC’s net income of NT$572.48 billion for the three months ended in March represented a fourth consecutive quarter of record profits.

Revenue rose to NT$1.134 trillion, beating estimates. The chipmaker had first reported the 35% year-on-year rise in first-quarter revenue last week.

TSMC, Asia’s largest technology company by market capitalization, manufactures chips used in products ranging from consumer electronics to data centers.

The contract chip maker has maintained strong demand for advanced semiconductors from its key customers, such as Apple. It has also benefited greatly from the proliferation of AI, producing advanced processors designed by the likes of Nvidia

— now the company’s largest customer.

“AI-related demand continues to be extremely robust,” President and CEO of TSMC C.C. Wei said in an earnings call Thursday. He added that advances in AI are driving increased computation and, thus, demand.

Wei noted that TSMC has received strong signals and a positive outlook from customers, reinforcing its conviction in a multi-year AI growth trend.

TSMC forecast full-year 2026 revenue growth of more than 30% year over year in U.S. dollar terms. Meanwhile, it projected second-quarter revenue of $39 billion to $40.2 billion, representing a 10% sequential increase.

This comes as the company faces concerns about supply chain disruptions linked to the Middle East conflict, including disruptions to energy supplies and key manufacturing materials such as helium and hydrogen.

In the earnings call, TSMC executives said the chipmaker does not expect any near-term impact on its operations from recent energy and supply chain disruptions from the conflict in the Middle East.

The company added that it has multiple sources for specialty chemicals and gases, including helium and hydrogen and maintains a safety inventory.

TSMC’s high-performance computing division, which includes AI and 5G applications, accounted for the majority of sales in the first quarter, rising to 61% of revenue.

Meanwhile, the company said advanced chips, defined as 7-nanometer or smaller, made up about 74% of TSMC’s total wafer revenue in the quarter. Shipments of advanced chips under 3-nanometers accounted for 25%.

In semiconductor technology, smaller nanometer sizes signify more compact transistor designs, which lead to greater processing power and efficiency.

During the Thursday earnings call, executives said the company was adding an advanced chip fabrication plant in Tainan, Taiwan, as part of its global capacity expansion efforts.

William Li, senior analyst at Counterpoint Research, told CNBC that AI chip demand has pushed TSMC’s manufacturing capacity to its limits.

“The narrative for 2026 is as much about resource constraints as it is about growth. Demand still significantly outpaces supply and isn’t showing any major sign of slowing down,” Li said.

“We expect this sold-out environment to remain a defining characteristic of the semiconductor industry throughout 2026, as semiconductor companies simply can’t keep products on their shelves,” he added.

At its last earnings call in ​January, the company said it expected capital spending this year to rise as much as 37% to between $52 billion and $56 billion, reflecting its expansion efforts and an expectation that demand will remain strong. The company said Thursday it now expects capex to be at the high end of that range.

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/16/tsmc-q1-profit-58-percent-ai-chip-demand-record.html

JUSTICE CLARENCE THOMAS: “I think if we don’t stand up and take ownership of our country, and take responsibility for it, we are slowly letting others control how we think and what we think.”

"If you think it's losing confidence, then you get up and you participate. You don't sit on the sidelines."

https://x.com/FoxNews/status/2044586268164551118

Keith Edwards

@keithedwards

Eric Swalwell on Brett Kavanaugh's alleged victims: "If he is innocent…I hope he says, 'bring in all the victims, allow them to be heard, allow them to be questioned.' That will clear his name."

Today, Swalwell is sending cease and desist letters to alleged survivors of his abuse.

https://x.com/keithedwards/status/2042685800585007492

US transportation secretary touts ‘wildly successful’ program recruiting gamers for air traffic controllers

US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Friday that it makes a lot of sense to hire gamers to address a shortage of air traffic controllers.

“If you think just what these gamers are doing on screens, and they’re talking and there’s a lot of things going on — they’re used to that. And that’s actually what you’re doing in a tower,” Duffy said at Semafor World Economy in Washington, DC.

The Transportation Department announced a week ago that it would begin a recruitment campaign targeting gamers, releasing a promotional video urging them to “level up” by joining the department.

Duffy noted on Friday that 6,000 people had applied since the application window opened at midnight that day, with the portal closing upon reaching 8,000 applicants.

“We’ve had a flood of young people coming in that want to be air traffic controllers,” he said, adding, “They have to be qualified. We have to go through an assessment process. But this has been wildly successful.”

Duffy also addressed the ongoing shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, which includes the TSA, that has caused delays and long lines at airports. US President Donald Trump signed an executive order last month diverting funds from ICE to TSA, but there’s still looming uncertainty over congressional negotiations.

“My hope is that we don’t have to have something really bad happen in this country before people come to their senses,” Duffy said.

“The problem is when you’re leveraging the safety of the American people, or you’re leveraging air travel — I get that there’s a political disagreement — but is this the appropriate forum in which to have that disagreement?” he asked. “I would say that it’s not.”

https://www.semafor.com/article/04/17/2026/usdot-sec-sean-duffy-recruiting-gamers-as-air-traffic-controllers-is-wildly-successful

>>24511589

Finally Gen X and Boomers realize the gamer supremacy.

Taiwan: 6 military personnel sentenced to prison in Chinese espionage case

Taipei, April 15 (CNA) The Taiwan High Court on Wednesday handed down prison sentences to six retired and active Taiwanese military personnel for leaking military secrets to China and gave them prison sentences of up to eight years and six months.

Wang Wen-hao (王文豪), Tan Chun-ming (譚俊明), Lu Fang-chi (呂芳契), Chiu Han-lin (邱翰林) and Yang Chien-hui (楊千慧) were found guilty of developing an organization for China, in violation of the National Security Act.

The other defendant, Yang Po-chih (楊博智), was convicted with disclosing information of a secret nature concerning national defense, in violation of the Criminal Code of the Armed Forces.

They were given sentences ranging from four years and six months to eight years and six months.

The ruling can be appealed.

Ding Xiaohu (丁小琥), or Ting Siu Fu in Cantonese, a Chinese man with a Hong Kong passport, was also indicted in the case but died in February 2026, and had his case dismissed.

The Taiwan High Prosecutors Office indicted the seven individuals in November 2025, after the Investigation Bureau's Taipei Investigation Branch in 2024 began investigations into possible espionage activities involving Ding.

They alleged that Ding recruited retired officers Wang, Tan and two others surnamed Chang (張) and Ho (何), who have since died, as members of a network that developed contacts and gathered classified information.

The four recruited active and retired personnel through their connections in the military, including Lu, Chiu, Yang Chien-hui and Yang Po-chih, prosecutors said.

The operation also involved influencing active military personnel to take a passive and non-resistant attitude in potential cross-Taiwan Strait military conflicts, they said.

More than NT$11.12 million (US$351,756) was transferred to Taiwan to support the criminal operations by an associate named Chen Chun-an (陳俊安), according to information provided by prosecutors, the Investigation Bureau and the Ministry of National Defense.

The Taipei District Prosecutors Office also indicted Ding, Wang and Chen in November on charges of money laundering and violations of the Banking Act.

The charges against Ding were dropped following his death, while proceedings against Wang and Chen are ongoing, the Taipei District Court said.

https://focustaiwan.tw/society/202604150009

>>24511599

Chubby chicks naturally jive with autists. You have my bow.

>>24511598

Yeah you never played any game on hardcore mode clearly.

>>24511614

>hardcore game starts over

But they know, the loss.

>>24511636

Yeah, and playing simulations (video games) that actually mimic strategies which trickle down into real world skills cannot be underestimated.

>>24511648

100%.

>>24511652

What game is that?.

>>24511691

You can join my gang.