TSMC Earnings Face High Bar; Beating Expectations Alone May Not Calm Global AI Selloff

As global chip giants' strong results fail to lift the artificial intelligence trade, TSMC faces a fairly high bar to impress investors with its earnings due Thursday. Weighed down by concerns over rate hikes, AI infrastructure financing and whether the chip boom can be sustained, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell for a sixth straight session, wiping out more than $1.5 trillion in market value. TSMC has already reported a 51% surge in quarterly revenue. Still, recent solid results from Samsung Electronics and ASML have failed to ease anxiety over chip stocks. The bar to impress investors is "very high," said Kevin Net, portfolio manager at Financiere de L Echiquier. "Just beating expectations is not enough to drive a positive share price reaction." He wants to see TSMC maintain high margins and capital expenditure while signaling that AI and high-performance computing demand remains strong.