After Elon Musk’s Invitation, TSMC CEO Reportedly Says Open To Working On Terafab But Must Run It

• TSMC reported a 69% jump in third-quarter net profit, beating analyst expectations.
• Musk earlier said his companies would build and operate Terafab themselves.
• Retail sentiment for TSM turned ‘extremely bullish’ despite a premarket decline.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSM) CEO C.C. Wei said the company is discussing a potential collaboration with Elon Musk’s Terafab project but insisted that TSMC must operate the fabrication plant.

“We are still in discussion, let me say that,” Wei told analysts on TSMC’s analyst call following its results release. “But the fab has got to be run by TSMC,” Bloomberg reported.

The comments come a week after Musk appeared to rule out an operational role for the Taiwanese chipmaker at Terafab, his ambitious project for advanced chip manufacturing.

Musk had said his companies would build and operate the facility themselves, adding that TSMC could potentially sublease part of the planned site but would not run its manufacturing operations. Intel (INTC) is reportedly helping Musk’s companies develop the technology the facility will use. 

The project, which is under development, involves building and operating a large-scale semiconductor manufacturing facility for chips needed across Musk’s companies and their AI ambitions.

TSMC Posts Record Profit As AI Demand Surges

Early Thursday, TSM forecast that its fourth-quarter revenue would rise as much as 61% from a year ago, after posting a sixth consecutive quarter of record earnings.

The Taiwanese company’s net profit in the July-to-September period rose 69% to T$763.1 billion ($23.59 billion), beating LSEG SmartEstimate expectations of T$746.3 billion.

TSMC’s third-quarter revenue rose 51% to T$1.49 trillion, beating market forecasts, according to a disclosure last week. In dollar terms, sales rose 41%.

Retail View On TSM

Still, TSM stock slipped 2% lower in premarket trading amid a broader rout in chip stocks. 

On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment for TSM shifted to ‘extremely bullish’ from ‘bullish.’

“TSM Even with $TSM dropping a monster earnings report, the ticker itself was already in a pullback, and the broader market was bleeding too—so down it went. Price action over news, every single time. Respect the tape,” a trader wrote.

For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.