By Adam Clark
Stocks across the chipmaking supply chain were getting a boost Thursday. A blowout investment forecast from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing was lifting the sector.
Taiwan Semiconductor, or TSMC, said its capital expenditure forecast for this year will be in the range of $52 billion to $56 billion, well ahead of market expectations and its $40.9 billion capex for 2025.
That's great news for companies which sell machinery and other tools for chip manufacturing. American depositary receipts of Dutch semiconductor-manufacturing equipment company ASML Holding were up 6.3% in premarket trading. Its overall market valuation surpassed $500 billion.
U.S. companies Applied Materials, Lam Research and KLA Corp. were all rising more than 6% in the premarket.
TSMC is the dominant manufacturer of AI chips and its hefty investment suggests it expects its customers to continue spending heavily for a number of years ahead. TSMC CEO C.C. Wei told analysts on an earnings call that the spending commitment was made after checks with major customers, and reflects verified demand.
"If we didn't do it carefully...that would be a big disaster to TSMC," he said.
The sector might also be getting a boost from relief on the news that the Trump administration's planned 25% tariff on imported chips will only be applied to chips imported to the U.S. that aren't used domestically for AI purposes but are then exported to another country.
While officials left the door open to a wider semiconductor tariff, companies that invest in U.S. chip production or invest in certain parts of the U.S. chip supply chain are likely to get preferential treatment. This would likely limit the scope of any potential tariffs.
Write to Adam Clark at adam.clark@barrons.com
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January 15, 2026 06:57 ET (11:57 GMT)
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