Samsung Electronics guided on October 8, 2026 to third-quarter operating profit of about 107.40 trillion won — roughly $76 billion — which is about 1.6 times TSMC's entire third-quarter revenue of $46.7 billion for the same period. The two figures landed the same day, and together they frame an AI-driven semiconductor boom in which profit, not just shipments, is doing much of the work.

TSMC's September revenue report, filed on Form 6-K, shows NT$511.86 billion for the month, down 0.6% from August but up 54.6% year-on-year. Adding July (NT$467.58 billion) and August (NT$514.81 billion) puts the quarter at NT$1,494.24 billion by simple summation — 50.9% above the third quarter of 2025 in NT dollars, and about 41% in US dollars at the relevant average exchange rates.

Samsung's guidance reads: consolidated sales of approximately 195 trillion won and operating profit of approximately 107.40 trillion won under K-IFRS. Korean rules bar publishing an estimate as a range, so Samsung prints the median of a wider band (194–196 trillion won of sales; 107.3–107.5 trillion won of profit). There is no divisional split and no commentary.

Both figures beat the LSEG consensus: TSMC's summed revenue by about 2% against NT$1.46 trillion, Samsung's profit by about 1% against 106.1 trillion won.

What does the TSMC monthly sum say versus guidance?

TSMC guided third-quarter revenue on July 16 to US$44.6–45.8 billion. Converting that range at the 32 NT dollars per US dollar TSMC assumed for its margin guidance gives NT$1,427.2–1,465.6 billion. The monthly filings sum to 2.0% above the top of that range.

The currency caveat matters: TSMC's official quarterly average rate arrives only with results. At the Federal Reserve daily-rate average of 32.00 for July–September, the quarter works out to about US$46.7 billion; revenue would have landed inside the guided range only if the average rate had been weaker than about 32.63.

Notably, in each of the four quarters from 3Q 2025 through 2Q 2026, TSMC's reported US dollar revenue came in at or above the top of its prior guidance.

Where is the growth coming from — volume or price?

Neither company's release splits output from pricing. But two clues exist.

TSMC's last full quarter shows both levers working. In 2Q 2026 it shipped 4,336 thousand 12-inch-equivalent wafers, up 16.6% year-on-year, while revenue per shipped wafer rose from about US$8,088 to about US$9,271, up 14.6%. The blended ratio reflects price, mix (3-nanometer was 30% of wafer revenue, 2-nanometer 3%) and non-wafer revenue such as advanced packaging.

For the third quarter, the arithmetic threshold is about 5.04 million wafers: at that volume, revenue per wafer holds flat. The largest quarter-on-quarter shipment jump in the past eight quarters was 14.1%, so any smaller rise would imply revenue per wafer climbed again. CFO Wendell Huang said in July that TSMC expected its business "to be supported by continued strong demand for our leading-edge process technologies, including the steep ramp-up of our 2-nanometer technology."

Samsung's number is starker. Sales rose 23.5 trillion won from the second quarter and operating profit rose 17.91 trillion won — meaning about 76% of incremental sales reached operating profit, far above the 55.1% guided overall margin. Operating margin has climbed from 14.1% a year ago to 55.1% in four steps.

Samsung's earlier releases point to price as a contributor. In July the company said the memory business "achieved another record-breaking quarter by proactively addressing AI demand despite limited capacity" and that "the continued industry-wide upward trend of prices also contributed to the record earnings." It added that "despite efforts to increase production, supply constraints are expected to continue," and said it had scaled up HBM4 sales.

The profit center is unambiguous: in 2Q 2026 the Device Solutions division — memory, chip design and foundry — posted 89.2 trillion won of operating profit, 99.7% of the company total, at roughly a 70% divisional margin. Meanwhile, Samsung's mobile and TV businesses posted slight operating losses, with mobile citing "elevated component cost pressures across the industry."

Peer evidence reinforces the pricing picture. SK hynix reported a 76% operating margin for 2Q 2026, and Micron's GAAP operating income was 80.7% of revenue in its fiscal fourth quarter ended September 3, 2026. TrendForce forecasts Q4 2026 conventional DRAM contract prices up 10–15% and NAND up 15–20%, while noting the pace of increases should moderate.

TSMC reports full results October 15; Samsung follows October 29 — dates that will reveal whether wafer volume or wafer economics carried the quarter, and whether Samsung's memory pricing power persists into year-end.