Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) — Quality & forensics
As of 2026-09-18 — refreshed nightly. Closelook readings from an investment research diary, not ratings or advice.
The Closelook module scores
- Valuation 67
- Quality 86
- Growth 73
- Balance sheet 76
- Cash quality 68
- Capital allocation 46
- Momentum 66
Scores are computed nightly across the coverage universe and read relative to it — the methodology lives in the company-scoring explainer.
Financial forensics — the academic screens
Sits in the safe zone (above 2.99). The Z-Score estimates financial-distress risk from five balance-sheet and earnings ratios.
Nine binary fundamental-strength checks across profitability, leverage and operating efficiency.
Screens reported earnings for statistical manipulation patterns — below the −1.78 manipulation-risk threshold. A screen, not an accusation.
Continue: the TSM chart & overview · the earnings record · TSM on the tape
FAQ · from the current data · as of 2026-09-18
Quick answers
What is Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing's Closelook quality reading?
The composite reads 70/100 across 7 modules, as of 2026-09-18: valuation 67, quality 86, growth 73, balance sheet 76, cash quality 68, capital allocation 46, momentum 66. Closelook scores are research diary readings, not ratings or investment advice.
What is Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing's Altman Z-Score?
3.04, which sits in the safe zone (above 2.99) as of 2026-09-18. The Altman Z-Score estimates financial distress risk from five balance-sheet and earnings ratios.
What is Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing's Piotroski F-Score?
9 of 9, as of 2026-09-18. The F-Score counts nine binary fundamental-strength signals across profitability, leverage and operating efficiency.
What does Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing's Beneish M-Score indicate?
-2.75 — below the −1.78 manipulation-risk threshold, as of 2026-09-18. The M-Score screens reported earnings for statistical manipulation patterns; it is a screen, not an accusation.
Mentioned on Closelook
Where TSM appears in the diary — 23 pieces, newest first. Every link is our own writing.
Go deeper
Long reads
- Where to Invest in the AI Chip Constraint Chain
17× Trail P/E 15× Fwd P/E +47% Rev Growth TSMC TSM · $374 Constructive Constraint: 92% leading-edge, 75% advanced packaging 28× trailing (vs.
- Who Owns the AI Chip Buildout?
- AI Economy — Three Futures for 2030, and the One the Model Leaves Out
- This company makes every AI chip that matters and 73% of the world’s outsourced chips — sales are up 53% in a month, and the stock is coiled in a triangle whose apex is this week
- TSMC — The Toll at the Only Bridge
How we hold it TSM is a constituent of the Rubin Build-Out 100 ; the print record carries its reaction history, and the stock page the live structure.
- AI Bull Market — The 2026 Verification Phase
January 15 TSMC (TSM) — The Hub Utilization rates for 3nm/2nm chips.
- Nvidia Ecosystem — Wave 1: The ‘Stacking’ Peak
TSMC TSM 0.98 Correlation Tier I Classification Linear · 2026–2030 Role Monopoly Manufacturer Why Every Rubin (3nm) and Feynman (2nm) chip is a TSMC wafer.
101 and glossary
- NVIDIA Investor's Timeline: Hopper to Blackwell to Rubin and Beyond
The investment question is not "is NVIDIA a good company?" — it's "is NVIDIA's stock a good risk-adjusted investment at this price?" Key Companies NVDA NVIDIA Architecture owner — Hopper/Blackwell/Rubin TSM TSMC Fabrication + CoWoS…
- The Packaging Bottleneck: Advanced Packaging as the AI Chokepoint
Key Companies TSM TSMC CoWoS monopoly — packaging capacity owner BESI BE Semiconductor Hybrid bonding equipment leader ASX ASE Technology Largest OSAT provider IBDN Ibiden Advanced packaging substrates
Dailies
- Yen — the Bank of Japan hikes and the dollar holds 157: the carry trade pays, the lines held, chips +3.4% over $505
- Day after the hike — yields fall and the lines are retaken: 10-year 4.95%, chips +3% over $505, S&P ETF above $757.83
- Fed day — relief before the decision: 10-year 4.96%, Brent under $107.63, chips reclaim $505, Nasdaq-100 above $708.69
- Rates — the 10-year hits 5.01%: Dow −0.9%, Russell −1.2%, the AI sort pauses, Oracle and Adobe hold their lines
- AI trade — the pacing call splits tech: chips −5%, software +4.5%, security +12–15%, 10-year hits 5%
- Brent closes above $100 for the first time since July and the 10-year hits 4.86%: Wall Street falls a third day while Cloudflare +10%, Datadog +7% and Meta +7% catch the money the chip leaders gave back
- The trade flips at midday: chips fade, software bounces — Meta +6%, Cloudflare +9%, Datadog +6% while oil holds $101 and the 10-year hits 4.85%
- The AI Order Book, Read From Taiwan
Related in the Closelook universe
- 000660.KS SK Hynix Inc
- 005930.KS Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
- 042700.KS Hanmi Semicon
- 0522.HK ASM Pacific Technology Ltd
- 2308.TW Delta Electronics Inc
- 2802.T Ajinomoto
- 285A.T Kioxia
- 3037.TW Unimicron Technology Corp
- 3436.T Sumco
- 4004.T Resonac
- 4062.T Ibiden
- 4063.T Shin-Etsu Chemical
- 5201.T AGC Inc.
- 5801.T Furukawa Electric
- 6146.T DISCO Corp
- 6361.T Ebara
- 6367.T Daikin
- 6525.T Kokusai Electric
- 6723.T Renesas Electronics
- 6856.T Horiba