TSMC shares rise 69% during Lunar Year, hit record high

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) reported its shares rise nearly 69 percent during the Year of the Snake, closing at a record NT$1,915 (US$61.07) on the last trading day of the lunar year.

The stock, which accounted for over 45 percent of the Taiwan stock market’s capitalization that day, rose from NT$1,135 (US$36.20) on January 22, 2025.

The gain contributed to a market value increase of more than NT$20 trillion (US$637.8 billion), reaching NT$49.7 trillion (US$1.58 trillion) on February 11.

TSMC’s stock dipped to NT$780 (US$1.585 trillion) in April amid broader market pressures but recovered following government intervention and policy adjustments.

The company’s strong performance was partly driven by increased demand for AI chips, as global cloud providers like Meta and Amazon invested in AI infrastructure.

In 2025, TSMC reported record sales of NT$3.8 trillion (US$121.2 billion) and net income of NT$1.7 trillion (US$54.2 billion).

The company projects nearly 30 percent revenue growth in 2026 in US dollar terms, far outpacing the 14 percent growth expected for the global pure-play wafer foundry market.

🔗 Source: Focus Taiwan

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Implications, context, and why it matters.

Government intervention followed a record market crash triggered by U.S. reciprocal tariffs

Taiwan’s stock market sank 9.7% on April 7, 2025. Some 945 companies, including TSMC, hit the daily 10% down limit 1.
The drop came after the Trump administration announced a 32% “reciprocal tariff” on Taiwanese goods 1.
Taiwan’s National Financial Stabilization Fund, a government-backed market-stabilization vehicle, started buying shares on April 9 to steady sentiment 2.
Talks later cut the reciprocal tariff on Taiwan from 32% to 20% by October 2025. The Taiex (Taiwan’s main stock index) later moved past 30,000 in early January 2026 3.

AI-led chip demand and U.S. trade policy have increased focus on Taiwan’s semiconductor supply chain

Market commentary tied TSMC’s AI-driven growth to heavy buildouts by major cloud providers. Some estimates put 2026 data-center and related infrastructure spending at about $550 billion to $600 billion across leading hyperscalers (the biggest cloud operators) 4.
That dependence pushed TSMC further into trade and geopolitics, including a January 2026 U.S.-Taiwan trade deal linked to supply-chain and investment commitments 5.
Under the agreement, Taiwanese semiconductor and technology enterprises would invest at least $250 billion directly in the U.S. Reciprocal tariff rates on Taiwanese goods would stay at 15% or less, plus other preferential treatment provisions described by the U.S. Commerce Department 5.
The same report also described a new U.S. tariff as a 25% global tariff on a narrow category of certain advanced computing chips 5.