TSMC June revenue surges 68% as Meta bets $250B on Louisiana data center

In this episode of Motley Fool Hidden Gems Investing recorded on July 13, 2026, contributors Jon Quast, Matt Frankel, and Rachel Warren discussed two major developments signaling continued strength in AI infrastructure spending: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's accelerating revenue growth and Meta Platforms' dramatic expansion of its Hyperion data center project in Louisiana.

TSMC, the world's largest chipmaker with a ticker of TSM, reported that June revenue jumped nearly 68% compared to the same month last year. Warren noted that this gain is particularly significant because June sales typically dip due to normal summer seasonality, but this year they actually rose from May, indicating that demand for chips is actively accelerating rather than plateauing. Zooming out to the first half of 2026, TSMC's total revenue reached 2.4 trillion New Taiwan dollars (about $75 billion（約12兆円）), up 36% compared to the same period in 2025. The company manufactures semiconductors for a wide range of applications from smartphones to high-performance AI computing systems, with key clients including Nvidia, Apple, and Advanced Micro Devices. TSMC is on track to generate over $40 billion（約6.4兆円） from AI chip revenue in 2026, representing about 25% of its total revenue. Quast highlighted the month-by-month progression as evidence of acceleration: April showed 18% year-over-year growth, May jumped to 30% growth, and June reached 68%. Companies from Microsoft, Alphabet, and Meta are essentially waiting in line because TSMC's advanced manufacturing lines are booked solid. TSMC reports its full earnings on Thursday, with focus expected on capacity bottlenecks and whether the company can raise prices for core products.

Meanwhile, Meta announced another major expansion of its Hyperion data center project in Louisiana, the company's flagship facility. Originally announced in late 2024 with an estimated $10 billion（約1.6兆円） cost for a two-gigawatt facility, the project was increased to $27 billion（約4.3兆円） last year. Now Meta has bought an additional 1,400 acres of adjacent land and is expecting at least $50 billion（約8兆円） in direct investment for a five-gigawatt facility spanning more than 3,200 acres—roughly four times the size of Central Park in New York. Bloomberg reports the total expected investment for the project, including power infrastructure, could eventually exceed $250 billion（約40兆円）, with the full build-out not expected to be completed until about 2036. The cost per gigawatt has doubled from approximately $5 billion（約8000億円） (the original $10 billion（約1.6兆円） divided by two gigawatts) to $10 billion（約1.6兆円） (the current $50 billion（約8兆円） divided by five gigawatts). To handle the power requirements, Meta is paying for 10 new natural gas plants to support the single site and is contributing over $1 billion（約1600億円） toward local infrastructure including roads, water, and sewage systems. Frankel noted that the cost of building data centers is soaring due to rising prices for power infrastructure, specialized cooling systems, and the chips themselves, though per-gigawatt costs for this phase have declined somewhat from last year's $27 billion（約4.3兆円） figure, possibly reflecting expected efficiencies at larger scale or more accurate estimating based on AI's current generation.

The acceleration in TSMC's business provides concrete evidence that the global AI infrastructure build-out remains robust despite recent stock market pullbacks. Month-to-month, TSMC shows a clear upward trajectory: April delivered 18% year-over-year growth, May jumped to 30%, and June reached 68%, with the June figure rising 6% sequentially even as summer seasonality typically depresses sales. This momentum directly contradicts the narrative among some investors that AI demand has peaked. TSMC's clients—the major US tech leaders including Nvidia, Apple, and Advanced Micro Devices—are locked into massive capital expenditure programs with the company's advanced manufacturing lines fully booked.

Meta's decision to escalate its Louisiana data center investment from an initial $10 billion（約1.6兆円） (announced in late 2024) to $27 billion（約4.3兆円） (raised last year) to now at least $50 billion（約8兆円） in direct costs reflects two concurrent dynamics: both a genuine expansion of scope (from a planned two-gigawatt to a five-gigawatt facility across more than 3,200 acres) and a doubling of the cost per gigawatt due to rising expenses for power infrastructure, specialized cooling, and the chips themselves. The $250 billion（約40兆円） total project cost when infrastructure is included, with completion targeted for 2036, demonstrates that major cloud and AI companies are committing to decadal timelines and viewing current buildout as necessary foundation, not discretionary investment.

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