Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. shares jumped 6.26 percent in U.S. trading after The Information reported the company had begun drafting plans to produce advanced 3D DRAM memory chips at the request of Nvidia, its largest customer — a move that would expand TSMC's role in AI hardware well beyond its traditional foundry business.
TSMC pushed back publicly on Monday, saying it has no confirmed plans to enter the memory market and intends to remain focused on its core chip-manufacturing business. The company said no decisions have been made on production, site selection, capacity, or timeline for any memory venture. Nvidia did not comment on the original report.
Markets reacted anyway
Despite TSMC's denial, chip stocks across South Korea and Taiwan rallied on Monday, suggesting investors see the underlying demand story — Nvidia's hunger for more advanced memory to pair with its AI processors — as credible even if this specific deal does not materialize as described. Nvidia's own shares traded lower amid separate scrutiny, including a Financial Times report that the company is directing data-center partners to scale back work with Chinese customers, and a developing story involving chief executive Jensen Huang that is still thin on confirmed detail.
If TSMC were to move into memory production, it would represent a significant expansion beyond its decades-long focus on contract chip fabrication, encroaching on territory currently dominated by Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron.
What's next
TSMC is scheduled to report October sales on November 10, which may offer indirect signals about capacity allocation even without confirming the memory-chip report directly. Nvidia's next earnings report, on November 17, is likely to draw outsized attention given the cluster of unresolved questions — the TSMC memory report, the China customer pullback, and the board's ongoing review of Huang — all converging around the company at once.
