The G.O.A.T. of Semiconductors Just Proved Why Betting Against Them Is a Mistake—Revenue Goes Burrr…

TSMC just dropped their recent earnings, and in a world where half the chip industry is either crying about tariffs or pretending AI will magically save their margins, they did what real winners do: they shut up and delivered.

(Source: Giphy) 

The Taiwanese chip behemoth reported Q1 numbers that didn’t just beat expectations, they embarrassed them. $25.5 billion in revenue and $2.12 earnings per share. That’s up 39% and 58% year-over-year, respectively. And while Wall Street had already priced in most of the AI hype, they still came in low… and TSMC made an example out of the numbers.

So what’s actually driving this? Well, while everyone from Nvidia to Apple keeps screaming “AI” like it’s Beetlejuice, hoping it’ll save them from tariffs—TSMC is the one actually making the chips that feeds that hopium. In Q1 alone, 3nm chips made up 22% of TSMC’s wafer revenue. Add in 5nm, and we’re at 58%. So we definitely aren’t talking about crumbs here. TSMC has the entire cake, carrying the team on their friggin’ back. 

(Source: Investopedia) 

Now, with that said, here’s where it gets fun: Trump is slapping 10% tariffs on Taiwanese chip imports. That should have been a flashing red warning sign for TSMC, especially since they still do all their leading-edge manufacturing in Taiwan. But CEO C.C. Wei got on the earnings call and basically said, “Yeah, we noticed and no one cares.”According to him, no customers have changed behavior. Orders are still coming in hot. So either the tariff threat is overhyped, or Apple and Nvidia have already baked it into their cost structure and decided to just eat the margin hit, or you know, pass it along to you when you buy a $1,500 iPhone with slightly better photos of your cat. 

What’s more is that TSMC is keeping its full-year revenue outlook intact: mid-20% growth in USD (a.k.a. Massive middle finger to market panic). But still, while TSMC is walking the walk and talking the talk, they aren’t immune. Barclays and Needham both pointed out the back-half of the year looks a bit sus. Not bad, just unclear. 

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(Source: Yahoo Finance) 

But, but, but… there’s also the $100 billion U.S. investment announcement hanging in the background—the one Wei made while standing next to Trump, who looked like he’d just won the Cold War. It’s a hedge, plain and simple. TSMC knows the U.S. wants its own fabs. It also knows building 3nm capacity in Arizona is going to be a multi-year, multi-billion-dollar headache. But they’ll do it anyway so they can keep access to American subsidies, avoid the worst of the tariff fallout, and avoid becoming collateral damage in whatever trade war Gen Z ends up fighting. 

In the end, TSMC just proved to everyone why they’re the G.O.A.T., and yet, they’re still the most important company most people have never heard of (and honestly, no amount of politics or analyst hand-wringing will change that). Meaning if you’re betting against them, well then I hope you like losing LOL.For now, keep your eyes on TSMC and place your bets accordingly, friends. Until next time, and Happy Easter! 

P.S. Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know you liked getting rekt. Let’s face it, retail investors get the short end of the stick all day everyday. It’s the smart money’s world, and we are just living in it–only useful when it comes to liquidity purposes in the market. Meaning, if you’re as pissed off as I was when I found out Milli Vanilli was lip syncing the whole time, then it’s time to go from investing blind, to investing smart. Luckily for you, the key is right here as a Stocks.News premium member. Click here to see exactly how our premium members are printing while others quake in the face of today’s market chaos. 

Stocks.News holds positions in Apple as mentioned in the article.