The Finimize Daily Brief
TSMC’s Profit Sailed Past Analysts’ Expectations, And The UK Economy Grew By The Most Since June
16 Jan 2026
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Hey, I'm Lana with your Daily Brief for Friday, January 16th. Coming up, TSMC's profit sailed past analysts' expectations, bolstering investors' confidence in the whole AI chips thing. And the UK economy grew by the most since June. We'll also check in with Carl to get his answers to your burning questions. More on the way, but first, a word from Guy at Finimize HQ.
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Chapter 2: What were TSMC's recent profit results and how did they exceed expectations?
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TSMC reported better than expected results on Thursday, reassuring investors who needed to see the AI money to believe the hype. The world's biggest contract chip maker posted its highest ever quarterly profit, up 35% from the same period the previous year. That beat analyst forecasts by a good 5% and further encouraged investors, hot on the heels of TSMC's sneak peak revenue beat last week.
Looking ahead, the firm thinks this quarter's sales will land about 38% higher than the same time last year. Good thing too, it plans to splash up to 56 billion on new plants and technology this year, almost a third more than last year. And further out, TSMC now expects revenue from AI chips to grow about 55% a year through 2029, a full 10 percentage points faster than it was predicting before.
TSMC makes around 90% of the world's most advanced chips, so its outlook is a pretty good proxy for the AI industry's health. If you've got money riding on that, you'll be glad to hear the firm's boss is sounding confident that orders will keep rolling in, from chip designers like Nvidia and AMD and cloud giants like Google and Amazon.
Now, he did warn that tariffs could throw a wrench in the works, but the U.S. is considering cutting duties on Taiwanese chip exports from 20% to 15%, on account of TSMC's plan to invest $165 billion into a cluster of stateside plants. TSMC's strong results and optimistic outlook gave the whole chip sector a lift.
Investors spread the cheer to a host of other chip-making equipment and memory stocks, including Europe's biggest company, ASML, which climbed 8% to a record high. Before we dive into the next story, it's time for our daily check-in with Carl. You've got questions, he's got your answers. Carl, what have you got for us?
Leah in San Francisco wants to know, how should I think about more niche investment plays overall? Well, treat them as complements, not core. They add spice, diversification, and sometimes outsized returns, but shouldn't replace your foundation. Do extra due diligence. Niche markets often have less coverage and higher risks. Small allocations are the safest way to start. Think curiosity.
You don't need every idea. And remember, under the radar is where hidden gems live, but also landmines.
thanks carl next up the uk economy grew by a better than expected 0.3 in november the strongest monthly reading since june's midsummer nights economists weren't expecting this result they thought the uk economy would only edge up about 0.1 in november after october's surprise 0.1 dip
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Chapter 3: How does TSMC's performance impact the AI chip market?
That's it for today. I'm Lana. I'll see you tomorrow.