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TSMC rises on 35% sales jump in Q1 as AI demand holds strong

TSMC is up more than 2% in premarket trading after the world’s largest chipmaker reported a 35% jump in first-quarter revenue, beating Wall Street expectations on continued strong demand for AI chips.

Revenue from January through March rose 35% year over year to 1.13 trillion new Taiwan dollars ($35.6 billion), marginally topping consensus estimates of 1.12 trillion new Taiwan dollars. March revenue alone surged 45% from a year earlier.

The strong topline figures suggest that demand for TSMC’s chips — used in everything from smartphones to massive data centers — remain robust, with strong order momentum from major customers including Apple, Nvidia, AMD, and Broadcom, even as concerns rise that Middle East war could dent global AI infrastructure spending.

Price hikes for its advanced chips may have also contributed to the sales beat.

The company is set to report first-quarter earnings on April 16, alongside updated guidance for the current quarter and full year.

Shares have gained roughly 30% year to date.

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Optics stocks rise after Lumentum CEO says demand is strong with "no end in sight"

Lumentum rose more than 5% in premarket trading on Friday, and lifted its competitors with it, after the company's CEO told Bloomberg that demand for its optical components is through the roof.

Chief Executive Officer Michael Hurlston told the outlet Friday that the company is "falling further and further behind the demand" and would be sold out through all of 2028 within two quarters.

“The capex numbers from the US hyperscalers are enormous and there seems to be no end in sight,” he said.

The comments also bolstered the Lumentum's peers, with Applied Optoelectronicsand Coherent also in the green in early trades this morning.

These companies make optical components that use light — rather than traditional copper interconnects — to move data within and between servers in data centers, a technology increasingly seen as critical for scaling artificial intelligence capacity.

Earlier this month, Nvidia said that it would invest $2 billion apiece in Coherent and Lumentum to develop their advanced optics technologies.

Nvidia-Backed Lumentum Sees AI Filling Orders Through 2028

Nvidia-Backed Lumentum Sees AI Filling Orders Through 2028

“The capex numbers from the US hyperscalers are enormous and there seems to be no end in sight,” he said.

The comments also bolstered the Lumentum's peers, with Applied Optoelectronicsand Coherent also in the green in early trades this morning.

These companies make optical components that use light — rather than traditional copper interconnects — to move data within and between servers in data centers, a technology increasingly seen as critical for scaling artificial intelligence capacity.

Earlier this month, Nvidia said that it would invest $2 billion apiece in Coherent and Lumentum to develop their advanced optics technologies.

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