Asia's AI Trade Is Expanding Beyond Taiwan Semiconductor: Analyst

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (NYSE:TSM) is facing growing competition for investor attention as the artificial intelligence trade expands beyond advanced graphics chips into memory, CPUs, robotics, and broader AI infrastructure plays.

AI Trade Broadens Beyond Taiwan Semiconductor

A Bloomberg report on Friday said investors are increasingly diversifying away from Taiwan Semiconductor, long viewed as Asia's preferred proxy for NVIDIA Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA), as AI-related capital flows into a wider group of semiconductor and infrastructure companies benefiting from surging AI spending.

Rayliant Global Advisors CIO Jason Hsu told Bloomberg on Friday that the market is structurally rotating beyond Taiwan Semiconductor as investors seek exposure to emerging AI winners across the semiconductor ecosystem.

Swiss-Asia Financial Services portfolio manager Brian Ooi said the rise of agentic AI is reshaping chip demand because AI agents require greater CPU capacity as the industry transitions from AI training workloads toward inference-driven computing.

MediaTek, Samsung And Memory Stocks Gain Momentum

MediaTek shares recently outpaced Taiwan Semiconductor after NVIDIA earnings reinforced expectations for broader AI infrastructure demand. Analysts highlighted MediaTek's role in helping Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) develop custom AI chips.

Taiwan Semiconductor also lacks direct exposure to the booming memory and storage market, allowing companies such as Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (OTC:SSNLF) and SK Hynix to attract increasing investor interest.

Financiere de l'Echiquier's Kevin Net told Bloomberg that his fund remains structurally underweight Taiwan Semiconductor due to portfolio concentration limits, while increasing exposure to companies such as MediaTek and Samsung.

Taiwan Semiconductor Earnings & Analyst Outlook

Looking further out, the next major catalyst for the stock arrives with the July 16, 2026 (estimated) earnings report.

• EPS Estimate: $3.69 (Up from $2.47 YoY)
• Revenue Estimate: $39.76 Billion (Up from $30.07 Billion YoY)
• Valuation: P/E of 35.1x (Indicates premium valuation relative to peers)

Analyst Consensus & Recent Actions: The stock carries a Buy rating with an average price forecast of $420.00. Recent analyst moves include:

• Barclays: Overweight (Raises forecast to $470.00) (April 22)
• DA Davidson: Buy (Maintains forecast to $450.00) (April 17)
• Needham: Buy (Raises forecast to $480.00) (April 16)

Taiwan Semiconductor Price Action

TSM Price Action: Taiwan Semiconductor shares were up 0.31% at $408.41 during premarket trading on Friday. The stock is approaching its 52-week high of $421.97, according to Benzinga Pro data.

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