{"id":73046,"date":"2026-10-15T03:08:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T07:08:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/tsmc-hits-record-profit-amid-ai-surge-french-inflation-hits-3-1\/73046\/"},"modified":"2026-10-15T03:08:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T07:08:16","slug":"tsmc-hits-record-profit-amid-ai-surge-french-inflation-hits-3-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/tsmc-hits-record-profit-amid-ai-surge-french-inflation-hits-3-1\/73046\/","title":{"rendered":"TSMC Hits Record Profit Amid AI Surge; French Inflation Hits 3.1%"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>TSMC (<a href=\"\/stock\/TSM\">TSM<\/a>) reported a 69% surge in Q3 net profit<\/strong> to NT$763.06 billion ($23.71 billion), driven by relentless demand for <strong>artificial intelligence (AI)<\/strong> infrastructure.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Demand for advanced chips is significantly outstripping supply<\/strong>, with TSMC&#39;s CEO noting that capacity for leading-edge nodes remains extremely tight through 2026.<\/li>\n<li><strong>France&#39;s annual inflation rate accelerated to 3.1% in September<\/strong>, the highest level since early 2024, fueled by rising energy and food costs.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Agentic AI applications<\/strong> are emerging as a major new growth driver for <strong>CPUs<\/strong>, shifting market dynamics and further straining semiconductor manufacturing capacity.<\/li>\n<li><strong>TSMC&#39;s capital spending for 2027 remains unquantified<\/strong>, though analysts expect a potential increase to $85\u2013$90 billion to support the <strong>2-nanometer (2nm)<\/strong> production ramp.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>TSMC Dominates with Record Earnings and AI Momentum<\/h2>\n<p>Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (<a href=\"\/stock\/TSM\">TSM<\/a>) posted its sixth consecutive quarter of record profits on Thursday, underscoring the massive scale of the global <strong>AI<\/strong> buildout. The company\u2019s net income of <strong>NT$763.06 billion<\/strong> easily beat analyst estimates of NT$731.77 billion, while revenue jumped <strong>51% year-over-year<\/strong> to NT$1.494 trillion. Advanced technologies, including <strong>3nm and 5nm nodes<\/strong>, now account for <strong>79% of total wafer revenue<\/strong>, reflecting the industry&#39;s shift toward the most powerful silicon.<\/p>\n<p>Management highlighted that demand is currently <strong>significantly outstripping<\/strong> the company&#39;s ability to supply products. This supply-demand imbalance is particularly acute in the high-performance computing (HPC) segment, which contributed <strong>68% of total revenue<\/strong>. TSMC (<a href=\"\/stock\/TSM\">TSM<\/a>) is moving as fast as possible to bring new fabs online, but the gap remains &quot;very large&quot; as customers like <a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/stock\/NVDA\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"15\" title=\"stock: NVDA\">Nvidia<\/a> (<a href=\"\/stock\/NVDA\">NVDA<\/a>) and Apple (<a href=\"\/stock\/AAPL\">AAPL<\/a>) compete for limited capacity.<\/p>\n<h2>Emerging &quot;Agentic AI&quot; Drives CPU Demand<\/h2>\n<p>A new frontier in artificial intelligence, known as <strong>Agentic AI<\/strong>, is beginning to reshape the semiconductor landscape. Unlike traditional AI models, agentic systems require high-performance <strong>CPUs<\/strong> to manage complex reasoning and autonomous task execution. TSMC (<a href=\"\/stock\/TSM\">TSM<\/a>) noted growing demand for these specialized processors, which are becoming critical components in AI data centers alongside traditional GPUs.<\/p>\n<p>This structural shift has led to a <strong>tight supply of CPUs<\/strong>, with major vendors like <a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/stock\/AMD\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"16\" title=\"stock: AMD\">AMD<\/a> (<a href=\"\/stock\/AMD\">AMD<\/a>) and Intel (<a href=\"\/stock\/INTC\">INTC<\/a>) reportedly considering price increases. The rise of agentic models is expected to sustain TSMC\u2019s (<a href=\"\/stock\/TSM\">TSM<\/a>) growth trajectory well into 2027, even as the company remains cautious about providing specific capital expenditure figures for next year.<\/p>\n<h2>French Inflation Hits Multi-Year Highs<\/h2>\n<p>In Europe, final data from <strong>INSEE<\/strong> confirmed that French consumer price inflation (CPI) rose to <strong>3.1% in September<\/strong>, up from 3.0% in the preliminary reading and 2.4% in August. This marks the highest annual rate for France since February 2024. The <strong>EU-harmonized CPI<\/strong> reached <strong>3.4%<\/strong>, driven primarily by a <strong>21.2% surge in energy prices<\/strong> and accelerating food costs, which rose 1.5% year-over-year.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the annual acceleration, monthly figures showed a <strong>0.3% decline<\/strong> in consumer prices, largely due to a seasonal drop in transport and accommodation services following the summer period. However, the persistence of energy-driven inflation continues to weigh on the Eurozone&#39;s second-largest economy, keeping the <strong>European Central Bank (ECB)<\/strong> on high alert as it balances price stability with regional growth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways TSMC (TSM) reported a 69% surge in Q3 net profit to NT$763.06 billion ($23.71 billion), driven by relentless 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