January 10 news: TSMC has reported sales figures for the fourth quarter of last year that surpassed expectations, hitting NT$868.5 billion (roughly $26.3 billion), marking a year-on-year increase of 39%. This figure exceeds the estimated average of NT$854.7 billion. This impressive performance has significantly bolstered investor confidence, who now anticipate the wave of AI hardware spending to persist until 2025. TSMC's revenue growth mirrors the trend of major technology firms, such as Google and Microsoft, accelerating the establishment and upgradation of data centers to propel AI development. This month, AI server manufacturer Hon Hai also reported sales that exceeded forecasts, while Microsoft announced an investment of $80 billion in data centers for the current fiscal year. Since the launch of ChatGPT at the end of 2022, TSMC's share price has doubled, with its market value on the US stock market briefly surpassing $1 trillion.