TSMC Tops Q3 Guidance With NT$1.49 Trillion Revenue Ahead of Earnings Call
TSMC posted NT$1.49 trillion (US$46.71 billion) in third-quarter 2026 revenue, up 50% from a year earlier and above market forecasts. The result also cleared the company's own guidance range. Reuters
The company had guided third-quarter net revenue of US$44.6 billion to US$45.8 billion on an assumed exchange rate of 32.0 New Taiwan dollars per U.S. dollar. Actual revenue of US$46.71 billion topped the high end. The beat was flagged in previews ahead of the full earnings release. MarketWatch
Monthly disclosure fills in the cadence. TSMC issued its September 2026 Revenue Report on October 8, 2026. September revenue was listed as 511,857, up 54.6%, with 2026 year-to-date total revenue at 3,898,727, up 41.1%. The company states that 2026 revenue figures have not been audited.
Profit is still in preview. The most recent preview put consensus for third-quarter net profit growth at 62%. A day earlier, consensus was framed as a 65% surge to NT$746.3 billion, which would be a sixth straight quarter of record profit. Reuters Net margin for the quarter was seen slipping to 50%. Yahoo Finance
Margin guidance for the quarter already pointed to compression from the second quarter. TSMC guided third-quarter gross margin of 65.0% to 67.0% and operating margin of 56.0% to 58.0%. That compares with listed second-quarter actuals of US$40.20 billion in net revenue, 67.7% gross margin and 60.3% operating margin.
The second quarter provides the immediate baseline. TSMC reported net profit of 706.56 billion New Taiwan dollars (about $21.94 billion), up 77%, against analysts' expectations for 626.82 billion New Taiwan dollars. Ahead of that report, the company had posted a record month of revenue, with second-quarter earnings per share forecast at 24.45 New Taiwan dollars.
For the full year, the January signal was for 2026 revenue growth to reach 30%, above the 25% analysts anticipated. That January update is now background to the third-quarter run rate, with year-to-date revenue up 41.1% on the monthly series.
Logistics are tight. TSMC will observe its Quiet Period from October 5 to October 14, 2026, during which it refrains from contacts with the investment communities. It will hold its Third Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference on Thursday, October 15, 2026, at 14:00 Taiwan time / 2:00 Eastern Time.
The broader context here is the interaction of volume, price/mix and currency. Revenue beat the top of a dollar-based guide built on 32.0, while September grew faster than the quarter as a whole. For a foundry, that pattern puts attention on wafer shipments and leading-node utilization rather than the headline alone, and on how much of the dollar beat reflects New Taiwan dollar movement versus unit and mix strength.
Looking at what this means for the October 15 disclosure, the variables to reconcile are gross margin inside 65% to 67%, operating margin inside 56% to 58%, and net margin around the 50% level now in previews. The second quarter printed above both margin guides for the third quarter. If TSMC holds near the top of its guided ranges while absorbing sequential revenue growth from US$40.20 billion, the debate will center on cost pass-through, overhead absorption and the tax and non-operating line between operating profit and net profit.
