Intel vs TSMC: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
Intel reported $52.9B of revenue in FY2025 and a net loss of $267M. TSMC reported ~$121.9B of revenue in FY2025 and ~$54.3B of net income.
Latest financial snapshot
Financial summary
Intel
Intel's revenue peaked at $79.0 billion in 2021 and fell to $53.1 billion in 2024, when it posted an $18.8 billion net loss driven by restructuring and impairments. FY2025 revenue was $52.9 billion with a much smaller $267 million net loss, and the year ended with $37.4 billion in cash and short-term investments. Q2 2026 revenue rose 25% to $16.1 billion with a 41.8% non-GAAP gross margin and $0.42 non-GAAP EPS. GAAP net loss for the quarter was $11.0 billion, almost all from a $12.5 billion non-cash mark-to-market charge on shares escrowed for the U.S. Department of Commerce. Intel guided Q3 2026 revenue to $15.8-16.8 billion.
TSMC
TSMC's results are being driven by AI accelerators and high-performance computing. FY2025 revenue reached NT$3.81 trillion ($121.4 billion), with net income attributable to shareholders of NT$1.70 trillion ($54.1 billion). Growth sped up in 2026: Q2 2026 revenue was NT$1,270.38 billion ($40.20 billion), up 36.0% year over year, and net income was ~$22.6 billion (NT$706.56 billion), up 77.4%. Gross margin reached 67.7% and operating margin 60.3% in the quarter. Q2 non-operating income included ~$2.02 billion (NT$63.20 billion) of gains on Vanguard International Semiconductor (VIS) shares, so part of the profit jump was one-off. Q3 2026 results are scheduled for October 15, 2026.
Revenue and profit by year
Intel
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $52.9B | -$267M | -0.5% | -0.5% | Source |
| FY2024 | $53.1B | -$18.8B | -35.3% | -2.1% | Source |
| FY2023 | $54.2B | $1.7B | 3.1% | -14.0% | Source |
| FY2022 | $63.1B | $8B | 12.7% | -20.2% | Source |
| FY2021 | $79B | $19.9B | 25.1% | +1.5% | Source |
| FY2020 | $77.9B | $20.9B | 26.8% | +8.2% | Source |
| FY2019 | $72B | $21B | 29.2% | +1.6% | Source |
| FY2018 | $70.8B | $21.1B | 29.7% | +12.9% | Source |
| FY2017 | $62.8B | $9.6B | 15.3% | +5.7% | Source |
| FY2016 | $59.4B | $10.3B | 17.4% | — | Source |
TSMC
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | ~$121.9B | ~$54.3B | 44.6% | +31.6% | Source |
| FY2024 | ~$92.6B | ~$37.1B | 40.0% | +33.9% | Source |
| FY2023 | ~$69.2B | ~$27.3B | 39.4% | -4.5% | Source |
| FY2022 | ~$72.4B | ~$31.8B | 43.9% | +42.6% | Source |
| FY2021 | ~$50.8B | ~$19B | 37.3% | +18.5% | Source |
| FY2020 | ~$42.9B | ~$16.3B | 38.1% | +25.2% | Source |
| FY2019 | ~$34.2B | ~$11.3B | 33.1% | +3.7% | Source |
| FY2018 | ~$33B | ~$11.6B | 35.2% | +5.5% | Source |
| FY2017 | ~$31.3B | ~$11B | 35.3% | +3.1% | Source |
| FY2016 | ~$30.3B | ~$10.6B | 35.0% | +12.4% | Source |
| FY2015 | ~$27B | ~$9.7B | 35.9% | — | Source |
Where the revenue comes from
Intel
- Client Computing and Physical AI Group~55%
Core and Core Ultra PC processors, chipsets, and edge platforms; $8.9B in Q2 2026, up 13% year over year.
- Data Center and AI~39%
Xeon server CPUs, AI accelerators, and data-center platforms; $6.3B in Q2 2026, up 59% year over year.
- Intel Foundry (external)small
Wafer manufacturing and advanced packaging for outside customers; most foundry revenue is internal sales to Intel Products and eliminates in consolidation.
- Mobileye and Other~6%
Mobileye ADAS chips and other businesses.
TSMC
- Advanced Node Wafer Revenue (7nm and below)
Majority of wafer revenue
Revenue from manufacturing chips at 7nm, 5nm/4nm, 3nm and now 2nm process nodes for customers such as Apple, Nvidia, AMD, Qualcomm and MediaTek. These wafers carry the highest prices and margins in TSMC's portfolio, and AI accelerators plus flagship smartphone processors drive most of the demand. TSMC reports node mix quarterly in its management report.
- Mature and Specialty Node Revenue (16nm and above)
Minority of wafer revenue
Revenue from manufacturing at 16nm through 180nm process nodes, serving automotive, industrial, analog, power management, RF, and embedded memory markets. These processes are characterized by long lifecycles, stable demand, and lower per-wafer prices than advanced nodes, but also lower capital intensity due to depreciated equipment. Specialty processes include TSMC's high-voltage, embedded flash, BCD (Bipolar-CMOS-DMOS), and silicon photonics platforms. The automotive segment within specialty processes is growing as electric vehicles require substantially more semiconductor content per vehicle than conventional automobiles. TSMC's 28nm node remains the world's most widely deployed logic process.
- Advanced Packaging Services (CoWoS, SoIC, InFO)
Not separately disclosed
Revenue from TSMC's advanced packaging technologies, which physically integrate multiple chips into a single package with high-density interconnects. CoWoS (Chip on Wafer on Substrate) uses a silicon interposer to connect AI compute dies with HBM memory stacks. SoIC (System on Integrated Chips) enables face-to-face chip bonding for extreme density. InFO (Integrated Fan-Out) is used in Apple's A-series chips to reduce package thickness. This segment is growing significantly faster than wafer revenue as chiplet architectures become mainstream, and its revenue contribution is expected to increase materially through 2026 and 2027 as TSMC invests in dedicated packaging capacity.
- Mask Making and Reticle Services
Not separately disclosed
Revenue from photomask manufacturing, which produces the patterned optical templates used in chip lithography. TSMC manufactures its own photomasks internally for quality control and supply chain security reasons, and provides mask services to certain customers as part of prototype and low-volume manufacturing programs. This revenue stream is small in terms but important as a vertical integration element of the company's overall manufacturing capability. Mask technology, particularly for EUV processes, is an area of ongoing R&D investment as the complexity and cost of leading-edge reticles have increased with each process generation.
- Engineering Services and Technology Licensing
Not separately disclosed
Revenue from process engineering services, design enablement, and in limited cases, technology licensing. TSMC provides design support services to customers through its Open Innovation Platform ecosystem, which includes process design kits, standard cell libraries, IP blocks, and co-optimization programs. The company also generates a small amount of licensing income from intellectual property related to its process technologies, though TSMC is generally protective of its manufacturing IP and does not engage in broad licensing of its core process knowledge. This revenue stream is primarily strategic in nature, supporting customer design capability rather than generating material standalone income.
Business model and strategy
Intel
How it makes money
Intel is an integrated device manufacturer (IDM): it designs chips and runs its own fabs in Oregon, Arizona, New Mexico, Ireland, and Israel. Since 2024 it reports two halves. Intel Products (client CPUs, Xeon data-center CPUs, AI accelerators) sells to OEMs, hyperscalers, and enterprises. Intel Foundry manufactures wafers and packages for Intel Products and for external customers, competing with TSMC and Samsung.
Growth strategy
Under Lip-Bu Tan, Intel has cut layers and headcount, slowed some fab projects such as Ohio, and tied foundry spending to committed customer demand.
Competitive advantage
Intel's advantages are the installed base of x86 software, deep OEM and enterprise relationships, leading-edge U.S. fabs, and advanced packaging (EMIB, Foveros) that AI chip designers increasingly need. Its role as the main American maker of leading-edge logic chips also brings policy support: the U.S. government became its largest shareholder in August 2025.
TSMC
How it makes money
TSMC is a pure-play foundry: customers send finished chip designs, and TSMC turns them into processed wafers and, more and more, packaged multi-chip modules. It earns revenue per wafer, with leading-edge nodes such as 3nm and 2nm commanding much higher prices than mature nodes, plus fees for advanced packaging (CoWoS, InFO, SoIC) and design-enablement services.
Growth strategy
TSMC's growth strategy is focused on leading-edge node execution, advanced packaging, AI and HPC capacity, global fab expansion, customer trust, and manufacturing yield leadership. AI demand is lifting high-performance computing revenue while overseas fabs in the United States, Japan, and Europe add resilience and political support.
Competitive advantage
TSMC's advantage comes from process technology leadership, manufacturing yield, customer trust, large capital scale, supplier depth, design ecosystem integration, and advanced packaging capacity.
Questions about Intel vs TSMC
Which company has higher revenue — Intel Corporation or Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company?
Intel Corporation reported $52.9B (FY2025), while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company reported ~$121.9B (FY2025). By last reported revenue, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company is the larger business, with Intel Corporation reporting a smaller revenue base.
What is the market cap of Intel Corporation vs Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company?
Intel Corporation's market capitalisation stands at $639.9B, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's is $2.01T. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company carries the higher market valuation, reflecting investors' expectations of its future earnings power relative to Intel Corporation.
Which is more financially efficient — Intel Corporation or Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company?
Intel Corporation generates $621k / employee in revenue per employee, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company generates $1.35M / employee. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company shows higher revenue efficiency per headcount, though this reflects business model differences — capital-light software companies routinely outperform labour-intensive manufacturers on this metric.
How do Intel Corporation and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company make money?
Intel Corporation and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. Intel Corporation: Intel is an integrated device manufacturer (IDM): it designs chips and runs its own fabs in Oregon, Arizona, New Mexico, Ireland, and Israel. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company: TSMC is a pure-play foundry: customers send finished chip designs, and TSMC turns them into processed wafers and, more and more, packaged multi-chip modules.
Which company is valued higher relative to revenue — Intel Corporation or Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company?
On a price-to-sales (P/S) basis, Intel Corporation trades at 12.1x P/S and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company at 16.5x P/S. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company commands a higher revenue multiple, typically indicating that investors expect faster growth or higher future margins compared to Intel Corporation. A higher multiple is not inherently better — it may also signal that the stock is priced for perfection.
Is Intel Corporation bigger than Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company?
By last reported revenue, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (~$121.9B (FY2025)) is the larger company compared to Intel Corporation ($52.9B (FY2025)). Revenue scale is one dimension of size — market capitalisation, employee count, and geographic reach are also relevant depending on the context.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Intel vs TSMC overview