TSMC commits additional $100 billion to build at least four more 2nm fabs and advanced packaging facilities in Arizona; full-year 2026 capex could reach $64 billion record.
TSMC will invest an additional $100 billion in the U.S. to build at least four more chipmaking plants and advanced packaging facilities in Arizona, CEO C.C. Wei announced at the company's second-quarter earnings conference in Taipei on Thursday. The new fabs will produce chips at the 2nm node and below, lifting TSMC's total announced U.S. investment to $265 billion. TSMC confirmed plans that had circulated as market rumors in February but declined to set a timeline, stating that the pace of construction will be determined by market demand.
Wei said the money will fund several additional logic wafer fabs "for 2-nanometer and below technologies" alongside advanced packaging plants to serve multi-year demand from TSMC's leading U.S. customers. According to Bloomberg, citing a U.S. official, the expansion brings TSMC's planned U.S. footprint to 10 fabs and two advanced packaging facilities.
A leading-edge 2nm-class fab module with a capacity of roughly 20,000 wafer starts per month costs approximately $25 billion to $35 billion to build and equip, making $100 billion sufficient to fund roughly four modules—aligning with Wei's reference to "at least four" plants. This positions the Arizona site near the halfway point of the 12-fab, four-packaging-facility endgame reported in April as part of the broader U.S.-Taiwan agreement.
The packaging component carries particular significance, as CoWoS capacity—not wafer output—remains the critical constraint on AI accelerator production. On-site packaging in Arizona would provide TSMC's U.S. customers with a complete domestic supply chain from wafer start to packaged accelerator for the first time.
The announcement coincided with another record quarter for TSMC, which posted net income of NT$706.56 billion ($22.35 billion) for April-June, up 77.4% year-over-year and marking its fifth consecutive quarterly record. Revenue rose 36% to NT$1.27 trillion, with gross margin reaching a record 67.7%. High-performance computing accounted for 66% of revenue by platform.
TSMC now projects third-quarter revenue of $44.6 billion to $45.8 billion, representing 12% sequential growth at the midpoint, and raised its full-year revenue growth forecast to slightly above 40% in U.S. dollar terms, compared to the roughly 30% guidance issued in June. CFO Wendell Huang said 2026 capital expenditure will rise to between $60 billion and $64 billion, up from a prior budget of $52 billion to $56 billion, with 70% to 80% directed to advanced process technologies. TSMC's suppliers are signaling the same demand environment: ASML raised its 2026 outlook on Wednesday, and Applied Materials CEO Gary Dickerson told Nikkei Asia the industry is set for years of capacity expansion.
TSMC declined to specify when the additional $100 billion will be deployed. The commitment follows the U.S.-Taiwan trade agreement that reduced tariffs on Taiwanese goods to 15% in exchange for $250 billion in planned Taiwanese investment in the U.S., announced roughly two weeks after President Donald Trump stated that TSMC was doubling the size of its Arizona operations. A demand-contingent pledge satisfies this arrangement without committing capital to a defined schedule. Wei himself bracketed the demand outlook, expressing confidence that demand will remain very strong through 2029 or 2030 while noting uncertainty about potential interim fluctuations.
Wei added that TSMC is planning 13 leading-edge and advanced packaging fabs in Taiwan over the coming years, addressing concerns that the U.S. buildout comes at Taiwan's expense. Execution in Arizona continues to face labor, water, and visa constraints, which will prove as consequential as demand in determining how quickly the four additional fabs are constructed in Phoenix.