The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) less than three years ago has sparked a paradigm shift in the technology space. Don't take my word for it: The world's five most valuable companies -- each with market caps of more than $2 trillion -- are leading innovators in the field of AI.
AI chipmaker Nvidia recently became the world's largest publicly traded company, valued at $4.5 trillion (as of this writing), as its graphics processing units (GPUs) became the industry standard for AI workloads. Enterprise and cloud provider Microsoft provides a growing suite of AI tools, whikch has driven its value to $3.9 trillion. With more than 1 billion iPhones in the wild, Apple has a captive audience for its Apple Intelligence (AI) ambitions, pushing its market cap to $3.8 trillion. Cloud and AI leaders Alphabet and Amazon round out the top five, boasting values of $2.9 trillion and $2.4 trillion, respectively.
With a market cap of roughly $1.5 trillion (as of this writing), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM 7.92%), often referred to as TSMC, is on the fast track to join this elite fraternity. The adoption of AI continues at a hectic pace, fueling blistering demand for its most advanced chips. As the world's largest and most renowned semiconductor foundry, TSMC is on the fast track to meet the requirements for membership in this exclusive club -- and it might happen sooner than investors realize.
Image source: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing.
Want chips with that?
TMSC has worked behind the scenes for years, fabricating the most advanced processors, but recently found itself in the spotlight. Management bills the company as the "world's first dedicated semiconductor foundry," making it a critical provider in the supply chain for high-performance computing (HPC) and AI.
And make no mistake, no foundry is as well-regarded as TSMC. Its customer list reads like the Who's-Who of tech glitterati, and includes Nvidia, Arm Holdings, Advanced Micro Devices, and Apple, among others.
With the surge in demand for AI-centric processors, TSMC is no longer dependent merely on smartphone chips. In fact, the lion's share of the company's revenue now comes from the advanced processors needed for HPC and AI, recently responsible for 60% of sales.
TSMC's growth continues to accelerate. In the second quarter, revenue of $30 billion grew 44% in U.S. dollars, while earnings per ADR soared 67% to $2.47. Management expects this trend to continue. TSMC is calling for third-quarter revenue of $32.4 billion in USD at the midpoint of its guidance, which would represent growth of 38%, and the company has been known to underpromise and overdeliver.
The path to $1 trillion
TSMC is in an enviable position as the world scrambles to adopt this groundbreaking technology. The company is well positioned to benefit from advances in generative AI, counting the biggest names in technology as its customers. Furthermore, TSMC's rapid revenue growth is the clearest sign yet that it is poised to profit from this opportunity. As such, TSMC should soon be joining the company of multi-trillionaires.
According to Wall Street, TSMC is on track to generate revenue of $123.3 billion in 2025, giving it a forward price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of roughly 12.8. Assuming its P/S remains constant, TSMC would have to generate revenue of roughly $156 billion annually to justify a $2 trillion market cap.
It's telling that Wall Street is forecasting revenue growth of 16% and 18% in 2026 and 2027, respectively. If the company achieves those relatively low hurdles, it will likely achieve a $2 trillion market cap sometime in 2027. That said, given the company's accelerating growth in recent years, it will likely make the grade even sooner.
Estimates regarding the market potential of AI continue to rachet higher. Global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company estimates that generative AI could add between $2.6 trillion and $4.4 trillion to the global economy annually over the coming decade. That could be conservative, as new use cases for AI are continually being developed.
Finally, at roughly 30 times forward earnings, TSMC is attractively priced, giving investors a practical way to invest in a once-in-a-generation opportunity.
