By Wen-Yee Lee and Ben Blanchard

TAIPEI, April 13 (Reuters) – TSMC (TSM) , the world’s largest manufacturer of advanced artificial intelligence chips, will likely notch up a fourth consecutive quarter ‌of record earnings with a 50% surge in net profit for January-March thanks to ‌booming demand for AI infrastructure.

Analysts say that demand for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s 3-nanometre technology to produce AI chips and its ​advanced packaging technology continues to outstrip the firm’s current production capacity.

That’s driven Asia’s most valuable company, a key supplier to Nvidia and Apple, to new heights. Its market capitalisation is now nearly double that of South Korean rival Samsung Electronics at around $1.6 trillion.

On Thursday, TSMC is expected to report a ‌net profit of T$542.6 billion ($17.1 ⁠billion) for the quarter, according to an LSEG SmartEstimate compiled from 19 analysts. SmartEstimates place greater weight on forecasts from analysts who are more consistently accurate.

An ⁠earnings call at which it will provide second-quarter and updated full-year guidance is scheduled for 0600 GMT.

Any profit result above T$505.7 billion would mark the company’s highest-ever quarterly net income and its ninth consecutive quarter of ​profit ​growth.

Last week, it posted a 35% year-on-year rise in ​first-quarter revenue nL6N40T0G0, ahead of market ‌forecasts.

Looking ahead, “we expect higher quarter-on-quarter revenue growth guidance for the second quarter of 2026, driven by sustained AI demand and advanced-node leadership,” Arthur Lai, head of technology research for Asia at Macquarie Capital, said in a note to clients.

The war in the Middle East threatens to disrupt the supply of production materials for semiconductors such as helium and neon, but TSMC is seen as ‌well-placed to weather the crisis.

“TSMC’s diversified sourcing and safety ​stock should be sufficient to manage short-term disruptions,” said Galen ​Zeng, senior research manager at IDC.

One ​area of focus will be whether TSMC maintains or raises its 2026 capital ‌spending plans as that will reflect management’s ​confidence in long-term AI ​demand, Zeng said.

TSMC is investing $165 billion to build chip factories in the U.S. state of Arizona.

The company has also revised its plans in Japan and is now set to ​manufacture 3-nanometre chips there, instead of ‌focusing on more mature nodes.

TSMC’s Taipei-listed shares have gained 28% so far this year, ​outperforming the 22% rise for the broader market.