Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Sponsored ADR (TSM.US) stock price lags behind peers, will it seize the opportunity of the "slow bull" in the AI chip frenzy?

Over the past year, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Sponsored ADR (TSM.US) stock price has accumulated an increase of about 116% - which is impressive in any industry. But compared to Intel Corporation's over 500% increase and Micron's over 800% increase, the global semiconductor leader has become the "laggard" in this round of AI chip feast. So, what has caused Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Sponsored ADR to lag behind Intel Corporation and "storage cyclical stock" Micron? What strategic logic and risks are hidden behind Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Sponsored ADR's "slow bull"? Explosive performance, but not the most "elastic" target From a fundamental perspective, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Sponsored ADR is flawless. In the first quarter of 2026, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Sponsored ADR's consolidated revenue was approximately NT$ 1.13 trillion (about $35.9 billion), a year-on-year increase of 35.1%, with a net profit of about NT$ 572.5 billion, a year-on-year increase of 58.3%. The gross profit margin historically exceeded 66% to reach 66.2%, the operating profit margin reached 58.1%, and the net profit margin reached 50.5%. High-performance computing (HPC) revenue accounted for over 60% for the first time, replacing smartphones as the largest source of revenue. Chairman Mark Liu has raised the full-year revenue target to "over 30% annual growth" and expects capital expenditures in 2026 to be close to the upper limit of $52 billion to $56 billion. However, the market has given Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Sponsored ADR a remarkably restrained valuation. As of June 19th, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Sponsored ADR's price-to-earnings ratio was approximately 39.8 times, although higher than the industry average, compared to the explosive growth of Micron (up over 260% this year) and Intel Corporation (up over 260% this year), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Sponsored ADR is obviously not the most "elastic" target in this round of AI market. The fundamental reason is that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Sponsored ADR is a "sellers of shovels," rather than "diggers of gold." Micron benefits from a more than 300% increase in DRAM contract prices over the past five quarters, and Intel Corporation benefits from the market's reevaluation of its 18A process and foundry business transformation expectations. While the demand for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Sponsored ADR's foundry business is strong, its pricing strategy is more conservative - according to previous reports, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Sponsored ADR is preparing to raise prices by about 15% in the second half of the year, but compared to the "surge" in memory chip prices, it is considered to be moderate.