0544 GMT - TSMC's latest 2026 capital expenditure upgrade appears well-justified by demand, say Bernstein analysts in a research note. Management reiterated at the latest earnings call that it won't squeeze customers with sudden price hikes. With price not a near-term upside and shipment capped by capacity, the chipmaker's upward revision of its revenue forecast suggests it was too conservative before, they say. Noting market volatility, Bernstein agrees with TSMC that sustainability of AI demand has improved over the past three months. "The recent pullback hence should be an opportunity to build more on AI stocks," they say. Bernstein see TSMC as "the highest quality AI compounder" given its wide AI demand exposure ranging from training, inference to agentic workload. The stock ended 7.3% lower at 2,290 New Taiwan dollars. (sherry.qin@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 17, 2026 01:44 ET (05:44 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.