Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. is having a moment, and Arizona is watching closely.
The world’s largest contract chipmaker reported a 35% jump in fourth-quarter profit, beating market expectations and capping a year of record performance driven largely by demand for advanced chips used in artificial intelligence. At the same time, TSMC signaled that its U.S. manufacturing footprint is far from complete, offering fresh clues about what the next phase of its Arizona investment could look like.
TSMC exceeded its fourth-quarter revenue and is forecasting that it will rise by close to 30% in U.S. dollar terms in 2026, citing what it called strong signals from customers responding to the rapid expansion of AI workloads. Capital spending is expected to range from $52 billion to $56 billion this year, a sharp increase that underscores the company’s aggressive capacity expansion plans.
That growth story has direct implications for Arizona, where TSMC is already investing $165 billion in a sprawling north Phoenix campus that includes multiple fabrication plants, advanced packaging facilities and a planned research and development center. One fab is already operating, while others remain under construction.
During a briefing with analysts, Chief Executive C.C. Wei confirmed that TSMC has purchased additional land in Arizona and is applying for permits to begin construction of a fourth fabrication plant and its first advanced packaging facility in the state. “That gives you a hint as to what we plan to do,” Wei says. “We are going to expand many fabs over there.”
Those remarks came just days after TSMC Arizona paid nearly $200 million at a state land auction to acquire about 900 acres near Loop 303 and Interstate 17. The purchase brings the company’s total land holdings in north Phoenix to roughly three square miles and positions TSMC to support long-term expansion well beyond its current construction plans.
Phoenix Vice Mayor Ann O’Brien says the acquisition reflects the scale of the company’s commitment to the region. “Today’s successful State Trust Land auction marks a historic milestone for Arizona’s semiconductor industry and our economic future,” O’Brien said in a statement. “This land acquisition enables Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company to continue building a world-class semiconductor campus that will create thousands of high-quality jobs and generate billions of dollars in economic activity for decades to come.”
The land sits within a larger master-planned area known as NorthPark, which is expected to include housing, schools, commercial development and open space alongside semiconductor manufacturing. While TSMC has not announced a timeline for development on the newly acquired property, the move reinforces how central Arizona has become to the company’s long-range strategy.
While chipmakers compete fiercely at the design level, TSMC captures value across the ecosystem as demand for advanced manufacturing rises. That position allows the company to continue to benefit globally from its role as the manufacturing backbone for leading chip designers, including Nvidia and Apple. Company leadership has also acknowledged concerns about the durability of AI-driven demand, underscoring the need to carefully manage capital spending to avoid overextension.
That balance matters in Arizona because the state has been focused on building a local semiconductor workforce, regulatory framework and supplier base to support projects of this scale. TSMC’s newly acquired land, sitting just south of TSMC’s existing campus, is just one of the many moves the company has made in reshaping parts of Phoenix through its infrastructure investment and accelerating development in areas that were largely undeveloped just a few years ago. Permitting for additional plants is still in progress but, currently, no timeline has been announced for what will be built next.
