Shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company climbed sharply on Wednesday, touching a new 52-week high as the world’s largest chipmaker continued to benefit from insatiable demand for artificial intelligence processors.
TSMC’s American depositary receipts reached an intraday high of $419.70 on May 6, according to CNBC data, pushing the stock to a fresh 52-week peak. The rally came a day after AMD reported first-quarter 2026 results that beat expectations across the board, reinforcing the breadth of AI-driven semiconductor demand that flows through TSMC’s fabrication plants.
AMD Earnings Fuel Chipmaker Rally
AMD reported first-quarter revenue of $10.3 billion, up 38% year-over-year, with data center sales surging 57% to $5.8 billion. The company guided second-quarter revenue to approximately $11.2 billion, well above analyst forecasts, sending its own shares up roughly 12-15% in extended trading. CEO Lisa Su expressed “strong and growing confidence” in AMD’s ability to achieve tens of billions in data center AI revenue, according to CNBC.
Because AMD relies on TSMC to manufacture virtually all of its advanced chips, the blowout results served as a direct validation of TSMC’s order pipeline. Reuters reported AMD shares jumped 12% following the earnings release.
TSMC’s Capex and Analyst Upgrades
TSMC confirmed during its April earnings call that 2026 capital expenditure will land at the upper end of its $52 billion to $56 billion guidance range, reflecting accelerating demand for advanced 3-nanometer capacity. CEO C.C. Wei noted that the expected 2026 spending would exceed the company’s total capex over the prior three years combined.
Needham analyst Charles Shi raised his price target on TSMC to $480 from $410 in mid-April, maintaining a Buy rating and citing robust AI demand and improved revenue guidance of “over 30% growth” for 2026. Multiple other firms have also lifted targets, with Aletheia Capital setting a $600 price target.
Hyperscaler Spending Underpins Outlook
The broader backdrop remains favorable for TSMC. According to TrendForce, combined capital expenditure among the top nine global cloud providers is now forecast to reach approximately $830 billion in 2026, representing 79% annual growth. Meta has guided capex of $125-145 billion, while Amazon Web Services is expected to exceed $230 billion.
TSMC’s first-quarter net income of $18.2 billion marked a record, with gross margins at 66.2%. The company projected second-quarter revenue between $39 billion and $40.2 billion, representing 32% year-over-year growth.
