TSMC, the dominant producer of advanced chips used in artificial intelligence applications, reported on Thursday a forecast-beating 54 percent jump in third-quarter profit on the back of soaring demand.

The world's largest contract chipmaker, whose customers include Apple and Nvidia, has benefited from a surge towards AI across a spectrum of industries.

TSMC posted a net profit of T$325.3 billion (US$10.11 billion) for the quarter which ended September 30, compared with the T$300.2 billion predicted by analysts.

TSMC, Asia's most valuable publicly listed company, said third-quarter revenue rose 36 percent year-on-year to US$23.5 billion, better than the company's previous forecast of up to US$23.2 billion.

TSMC is spending billions of dollars building new factories in other parts of the world, including US$65 billion on three plants in the US state of Arizona.

On its last earnings call in July, TSMC raised its full-year revenue forecast and adjusted its capital expenditure plans for this year to between US$30 billion and US$32 billion.

The AI boom has helped drive up TSMC shares, with its Taipei-listed stock leaping 75 percent so far this year, compared with a 28 percent gain for the broader market, giving it a market capitalisation of around US$840 billion. (Reuters)