In brief: TSMC reported September revenue of NT$511.86 billion. Combined with July and August, that produces a quarterly record of NT$1.494 trillion. The jump supports the case for sustained demand for advanced chips, but it does not yet show how profitable the growth is.
Three monthly figures add up to roughly 18% growth
September revenue rose 54.6% year on year and slipped 0.6% from August. TSMC's official figures for July, August and September add up to NT$1.494 trillion for the third quarter. That is about 17.6% above the NT$1.270 trillion reported for the second quarter and roughly 51% higher year on year, based on Reuters' calculation.
TSMC's forecast of US$44.6 billion to US$45.8 billion assumed NT$32 to the dollar. Its upper end therefore corresponded to NT$1.466 trillion. The sum of the monthly figures is just under 2% higher. This is a Pandorex calculation using the original exchange-rate assumption, not an early confirmation of the formal results.
Revenue for January through September reached NT$3.899 trillion, up 41.1% from the same period in 2025. After only nine months, TSMC has therefore exceeded its entire 2025 revenue of NT$3.809 trillion by about 2.4%.
Pandorex Analysis: revenue alone is not complete proof of an AI boom
Attributing the surge to AI is plausible, but the September release identifies no customers, products or process nodes. In July, TSMC cited demand for leading-edge technologies and the rapid 2nm ramp as third-quarter drivers. In the second quarter, nodes at 7nm and below accounted for 77% of wafer revenue, while 2nm contributed 3%. The Dimensity 9600 Pro is among the first publicly named 2nm products.
Whether the extra revenue lifts profit at the same rate remains unknown. TSMC will disclose gross margin, net income, process mix, capital expenditure and new guidance on October 15. Until then, the monthly figures show the scale and speed of demand, not its exact cause or profitability.