What happened
TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, posted a record second-quarter revenue. Revenue rose 36% from a year earlier to about $39.6 billion, beating some forecasts. For June alone, revenue jumped about 68% year over year to $13.8 billion, up 6% from the previous month. TSMC is a major supplier to Nvidia and Apple.
Why it matters
AI applications are driving demand for advanced chips and the factories that make them. A stronger AI pull means more orders for wafers and higher production volume at TSMC. Because Nvidia relies on TSMC to manufacture many of its chips, stronger demand at TSMC can reflect a healthy environment for Nvidia’s AI products. The result is a read on the pace of AI-related semiconductor growth and the state of the supply chain.