In its October 15 report, CNBC’s Jenny Lee says TSMC earned NT$763.1 billion in net income in Q3 2026, up 68.7% year over year and marking a sixth consecutive quarterly record. Lee also reports a 58.7% operating margin, above TSMC’s prior guidance range of 56%–58% (CNBC; TSMC’s Q3 guidance).
Results versus estimates and guidance
| Metric | Q3 2026 result reported by CNBC | Benchmark |
| Revenue | NT$1.49 trillion | LSEG SmartEstimate: NT$1.47 trillion |
| Net income | NT$763.1 billion | LSEG SmartEstimate: NT$746.34 billion |
| Operating margin | 58.7% | TSMC guidance: 56%–58% |
The reported net income exceeded the LSEG SmartEstimate by NT$16.76 billion, or about 2.2%. The operating margin was 0.7 percentage points above the top of TSMC’s guidance range.
TSMC’s official monthly revenue figures for July, August and September were NT$467,580 million, NT$514,806 million and NT$511,857 million. Added together, they total NT$1.494243 trillion (TSMC monthly revenue). That calculation supports CNBC’s rounded quarterly revenue figure. Earlier coverage of TSMC’s Q3 revenue calculation walks through the monthly figures.
Computing led TSMC’s reported revenue mix
Lee reports that high-performance computing accounted for 68% of revenue by platform, compared with 21% for smartphones. Separately, 3 nm chips represented 33% of revenue by technology. The platform figures and the technology figure describe different classifications of TSMC’s business.
Automotive was the fastest-growing platform quarter over quarter, increasing 23%. TSMC’s free cash flow was NT$476.56 billion, compared with NT$139.38 billion in the year-earlier quarter, according to CNBC.
Reuters reports a higher Q4 revenue outlook
Reuters’ October 15 headline, carried by TradingView, says TSMC expects revenue to increase in Q4 (Reuters via TradingView).
