Chip giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. is supercharging an already massive US investment spree – pledging an additional $100 billion to meet surging AI demand.
The move brings TSMC’s investment in the US to $265 billion and comes as the company posted second-quarter earnings that blew past market expectations Thursday.
TSMC, which supplies powerful chips that are critical for tech giants like Apple and Nvidia, boosted its global capital spending plan for 2025 to between $60 billion and $64 billion.
That record level marks an increase of about 7% to 14% from its previous forecast.
Still, TSMC’s US-listed shares slipped 3% after the earnings report as the market continues to be squeamish about lofty valuations and questions about return on investment for the AI industry.
The spending spree comes in response to demand from top US customers and could fund the addition of four more advanced facilities to TSMC’s existing Arizona site, according to the company’s Chair and CEO C.C. Wei.
It’s “the largest foreign direct investment in US history,” he said.
TSMC originally pledged $100 billion last year to boost production in the US as part of a four-year project announced alongside President Trump. That move came amid Trump’s threats to impose harsh tariffs on computer chips and other key products while seeking to secure better deals for the US economy.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick hailed Thursday’s announcement, saying it “will create tens of thousands of American jobs and bring advanced semiconductor manufacturing back to America.”
The record investment plans firmly place the TSMC atop the global semiconductor supply chain and provide the latest signal the AI boom isn’t slowing down anytime soon.
The earnings win came days after chip equipment supplier ASML also upped its annual sales forecast, citing strong AI demand.
Earlier this year, Taiwan and the US reached a trade and investment agreement that aims to further the Trump administration’s effort to rebuild domestic manufacturing.
Expanding in the US gives TSMC a stronger presence near its biggest customers while allowing the company to keep its most advanced chipmaking technology in Taiwan.
Wei said the company’s US expansion wasn’t a short-term decision but the result of years of planning – chip fabrication plants cost tens of billions of dollars and take years to complete as companies must forecast future demand long before construction begins.
“We are using multiple levers to do everything we can, wherever we can, however we can, to maximize support to all our customers,” Wei said.
The Taiwanese chip giant now expects full-year revenue growth to come in at slightly more than 40%, raising its outlook from an earlier projection of more than 30%.
The optimism appeared to be backed up by TSMC’s latest quarterly results. Net profit surged 77% from a year earlier to 706.56 billion New Taiwan dollars, or $21.98 billion, while revenue climbed 36% as AI infrastructure spending and consumer electronics stockpiling lifted sales during what is usually a softer quarter.