Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited: World's Leading Independent Semiconductor Manufacturer

Brief Summary for Investors: TSMC is the world's largest pure-play semiconductor foundry and a critical supplier to the global technology industry. The company manufactures chips for leading customers such as Apple, NVIDIA, and AMD using the most advanced process technologies.

Development Historical share price movements have been primarily driven by global demand for semiconductors, technological advances, and geopolitical tensions. The financial metrics demonstrate robust growth over the past few years, with a significant increase in revenue and profitability between 2020 and 2022. The most recent quarter (Q2 2025) continues this trend with revenue of TWD 933.8 billion and net income of TWD 398.3 billion. The return on equity (ROE) of 8.6% and the return on assets (ROA) of 5.7% demonstrate solid, albeit not exceptional, profitability. The strong free cash flow of TWD 851 billion in the last quarter underscores the company's financial strength.

Opportunities:

• AI Boom: Explosive demand for high-performance computing and AI chips is driving utilization of the most advanced nodes (e.g., 3nm, 2nm).
• Technology Leadership: TSMC's lead in manufacturing technology (e.g., compared to Intel) represents a sustainable competitive barrier.
• Diversified Demand: Stable to growing demand from the automotive, Internet of Things (IoT), and high-performance computing sectors provides resilience against economic fluctuations in individual segments.

Risks:

• Geopolitical Concentration: The majority of manufacturing capacity is located in Taiwan, which poses a significant geopolitical and geophysical risk (e.g., earthquakes, tensions with China).
• Cyclic Demand: The semiconductor industry is cyclical. A global economic slowdown could put pressure on demand and margins.
• High capital intensity: The immense capital requirements for the development of new manufacturing technologies and the construction of fabs (e.g., in the US and Germany) weigh on return on capital in the short term.

Additional notes: The data provided do not include historical share price trends, which prevents a direct analysis of share price performance relative to financial results. Debt is at a moderate level with a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, and the high liquidity (current ratio > 2) provides financial flexibility.

Conclusion: TSMC operates extremely robustly financially and benefits structurally from its technological lead and its key role in the global supply chain. The company is well positioned to benefit from the long-term growth trend in the semiconductor market, particularly in the AI segment. However, investment risk is largely determined by the geopolitical situation and the industry's cyclical vulnerability. For long-term investors who accept this specific risk profile, TSMC represents a fundamental industry bet.

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