TSMC plans stakes in Anthropic and OpenAI as October sales climb

What did TSMC announce?

TSMC's board approved up to $500 million to buy Anthropic shares at its IPO price, the company said in a statement Tuesday. An IPO is a company's debut sale of shares to the public.

Why it matters: The board also approved up to $500 million for preferred stock in OpenAI. Preferred stock is a separate class of shares, here in a company that is still private.

Anthropic's latest filing shows it plans to list on the Nasdaq on Nov. 19 under the symbol ANT. Its backers include Alphabet (Nasdaq: GOOGL), Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices and Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT).

How fast are TSMC's sales growing?

TSMC reported October revenue of $17.88 billion on Tuesday, up 59.7% from a year earlier, the company said in its monthly sales report.

TSMC builds chips that other companies design. Its monthly sales can give an early read on how much the industry is spending on AI processors.

The company also plans to raise capital spending, the money it puts into factories and equipment, from 2026 to 2028 compared with the preceding years.

How did the shares react?

TSMC's U.S.-listed shares rose 2.0% in Tuesday's regular session, and the company added $41 billion in market value.

After the announcement, the shares rose 1.5% more in after-hours trading, to $402.63. After-hours trading happens once the regular session closes.

Even with those gains, the stock sits 18.4% below its 52-week high, the highest price of the past year. Microsoft, an Anthropic backer, slid 2.2% on the day, and the technology sector fund fell 1.2%.

What comes next?

What’s next: Anthropic's Nasdaq debut on Nov. 19 may show how public investors value the company TSMC is buying into. TSMC buys at the offering price. Any gap between that price and later trading could change the value of its stake.

The larger question is whether AI spending keeps TSMC's monthly sales climbing. Its next monthly revenue report could show it.