en.Wedoany.com Reported - In response to growing demand for artificial intelligence, TSMC is expected to significantly increase its equipment investment. Taiwan's Economic Daily News reported on the 5th, citing a Goldman Sachs report, that TSMC's equipment investment in the coming years will exceed previous expectations.

Goldman Sachs has raised its forecast for TSMC's 2027 equipment investment from $70 billion to $78 billion, and adjusted the 2028 investment forecast from $74 billion to $82 billion. The 2026 equipment investment forecast remains unchanged at $56 billion.

Goldman Sachs analysis suggests that as demand for AI infrastructure construction continues to expand, and with more clean rooms gradually completed and put into operation after 2027, TSMC will further increase investments in front-end and back-end capacity. Due to capacity expansion exceeding expectations, coupled with benefits such as urgent order demand and improved production efficiency, TSMC's revenue over the next two years is expected to surpass market forecasts.

Goldman Sachs analyst Wei Qingzheng pointed out that over the past quarter, the growth momentum driven by AI accelerators and server central processing units has exceeded expectations, and demand growth is expected to further strengthen in 2027. He stated that to meet customer demand, TSMC will significantly increase investment in advanced process equipment and accelerate capacity construction. Wei Qingzheng estimates that by the end of 2027, TSMC's monthly wafer capacity for 3-nanometer and 2-nanometer processes will reach 200,000 and 140,000 wafers, respectively.

Wei Qingzheng explained that the first-year wafer output for 2-nanometer is 45% higher than that of 3-nanometer, and its adoption cycle is accelerating, supported by the rapid expansion of Fab20 in Hsinchu and Fab22 in Kaohsiung in 2026. 2-nanometer is TSMC's most advanced process and began mass production this year. It is expected that after the initial mass production ramp-up phase, the compound annual growth rate of 2-nanometer and A16 capacity will reach 70% between 2026 and 2028. During the same period, the share of 5-nanometer and below processes in TSMC's total wafer revenue is expected to reach 69%, 75%, and 82%, respectively.

In terms of back-end advanced packaging, CoWoS investment will also accelerate. It is expected that CoWoS annual capacity from 2026 to 2028 will reach 1.275 million, 2.73 million, and 3.48 million wafers, respectively, higher than the previous forecasts of 1.275 million, 2.49 million, and 3.15 million wafers.

Wei Qingzheng reiterated a "buy" rating on TSMC and raised the target stock price by 9% from NT$2,750 to NT$3,000. TSMC will announce its second-quarter results on the 16th.