Taiwan-based foundry giant TSMC is shaking off tariff concerns, at least for now. The company in its first quarter 2025 earnings report boasted strong year-over-year revenue growth and a bright outlook that included a forecast for revenue to rise close to the “mid-twenties-percentage” range during 2025.
Still, TSMC, which last month attempted to mollify the Trump Administration with a $100 billion plan to build new fabs in the US, struck a note of caution amid its optimism. “While we have not seen any changes in our customers’ behavior so far, uncertainties and risks from the potential impact from tariff policies exist,” the company said in a statement that was part of its earnings presentation. “We will continue to closely monitor the potential impact on the end market demand and manage our business prudently.”
TSMC’s first quarter revenue was $25.53 billion. This represented a 35% year-over-year jump, though it was within the range of previous guidance and about 5% lower than the fourth quarter of 2024.
North America represented 77% of TSMC’s first quarter revenue, up from 69% in the same quarter last year. Its largest revenue producer by platform was high-performance computing, contributing about 59% of total revenue and 7% sequential revenue growth. Elsewhere, automotive platform sales were particularly strong, with 14% sequential growth in revenue, while smartphone and IoT segments were both down sequentially.
For the second quarter of 2025, the company is projecting revenue will land in the range between $28.4 billion and $29.2 billion, which in the current climate of confusion and chaos of tariffs seems like a robust growth track. TSMC is typically a little earlier than some of its customers and partners in the semiconductor ecosystem in reporting its quarterly earnings, so it remains to be seen if others will follow suit. Intel reports earnings on April 24, while AMD is scheduled to post its first quarter marks on May 6, and Nvidia will report in late May.