TSMC Hits $1 Trillion Market Cap Amid AI Boom

On July 8th, TSMC, listed on both the Taiwan Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange, briefly surpassed the $1 trillion market capitalization milestone. This achievement places TSMC among the world’s most valuable companies, overtaking Tesla to become the seventh-largest tech company globally. On the same day, Alphabet, Apple, and Meta also hit record-high market valuations.

In the global rankings of the most valuable companies, Microsoft and Apple lead the pack, followed by Nvidia, all with valuations exceeding $3 trillion. Alphabet and Amazon, each recently surpassing the $2 trillion mark, are next in line. Saudi Aramco, the oil giant, holds the sixth spot, while Meta, TSMC, and Tesla rank seventh to tenth, respectively.

Angelo Zino, an analyst at CFRA, highlights that the semiconductor industry has emerged as a leading sector within the S&P 500 Index. Over the past 15-18 months, the semiconductor industry has consistently led the stock market, driven by a surge in global chip demand fueled by the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). This sector’s expansion has attracted significant investor interest and substantial government support, such as the U.S. CHIPS Act, which allocates billions of dollars to boost domestic chip manufacturing.

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) forecasts that global semiconductor sales will reach $611.2 billion in 2024, reflecting a 16% increase and setting a new record. Sales are expected to grow by another 12.5% in 2025. Nvidia, with its industry-leading GPUs, is at the forefront of this global semiconductor boom.