TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) announced a third quarter profit of NT$156.26 billion (US$5.56 billion) on Thursday (Oct. 14).

According to a TSMC statement, Q3 profits were up 16.3% from the previous quarter and up 13.8% from a year earlier. Meanwhile, diluted earnings per share for the third quarter hit NT$6.03, or US$1.03 per ADR unit.

TSMC’s consolidated revenue for the third quarter came in at NT$414.67 billion, representing an 11.4% increase from Q2 and up 16.3% from a year earlier. In U.S. dollars, revenue was US$14.88 billion, a 12% bump from the second quarter and a 22.6% increase year-over-year.

The company said gross margin (net sales minus cost of goods sold) increased 1.3% from the previous quarter to 51.3%, while operating margin came in at 41.2%, with a net profit margin of 37.7%.

TSMC said 5nm shipments were responsible for 18% of total wafer revenue, while 7nm chip orders accounted for 34%.

“Our third quarter business was mainly supported by strong demand across all four growth platforms, which are smartphone, HPC, IoT and Automotive-related applications,” said Wendell Huang (黃仁昭), Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. “Moving into fourth quarter 2021, we expect our business to be supported by strong demand for our industry-leading 5nm technology.”