TSMC shares soared on March 23 after the US President Donald Trump announced a five-day delay of planned strikes on Iranian power plants. Trump posted, “I’ve instructed the Department of War to postpone any and all military strikes for five days.” The announcement reversed a weekend ultimatum in which the President had threatened action if the Strait of Hormuz was not reopened. While Iran’s foreign ministry denied that any direct talks occurred.
Trump told CNBC, “I’m very intent on making a deal,” signaling that diplomacy took priority over military action - at least temporarily. The move immediately lifted pressure on semiconductor stocks, which had been vulnerable to rising crude prices tied to the ongoing US-Israeli military campaign.
TSMC’s American depositary receipts jumped 2.8%, closing at $338.45 and raising the company’s market capitalization to $1.755 trillion. The surge pushed the chipmaker past Saudi Aramco at $1.743 trillion, and solidified TSMC’s position as the world’s sixth-largest company by market value. Analysts noted that the rally reflected both geopolitical relief and underlying optimism in the semiconductor sector, particularly amid the ongoing AI boom.
Retail interest in TSMC remains strong. The number of registered shareholders rose to roughly 2.46 million as of last Friday, an increase of 75,536 in a single week, according to Taiwan Depository and Clearing Corp. Odd-lot trading purchases of less than 1,000 shares accounted for much of the growth, with volume climbing by 65,773 to approximately 1.96 million.
TSMC first entered the sixth-place global ranking in early January when ADRs jumped over 5%, overtaking Meta Platforms and Broadcom. The company reached a $2 trillion market cap in February but later declined amid broader market fluctuations.
The increase in TSMC's stock price on Monday demonstrates that the company’s market value depends on three factors: international political events, investor behavior, and demand for artificial intelligence semiconductors. The current situation between TSMC and the Middle East demonstrates that the chipmaker will maintain its position as the world's leading semiconductor company.