Think It's Too Late to Buy Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Stock? Here's the 1 Reason Why There's Still Time.

By Stefon Walters – Mar 18, 2026 at 9:30PM ESTKey PointsTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has outperformed every "Magnificent Seven" stock except Nvidia in the past 12 months.TSMC's competitive moat is its advanced manufacturing abilities.Many top tech companies rely on TSMC to bring their respective chips to life.Many tech stocks have seen their price increase considerably over the past few years, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSM 1.85%), also known as TSMC, is no exception. Over the past three years (ending March 16), TSMC's stock is up over 93%, outpacing every "Magnificent Seven" stock except Nvidia. Despite TSMC's impressive run over the past few years, it's not too late to buy its stock. And the reason comes down to its competitive moat. Image source: The Motley Fool. TSMC's competitive moat is its manufacturing capabilities. The goal for semiconductors (chips) used in everyday electronics is to become smaller and more powerful. The more this happens, the better and more efficiently electronics perform. And nobody is better than TSMC at bringing these advanced chips to life. TSMC is more efficient, has higher yields (percentage of chips that work as intended), and can produce at a larger scale than all its competitors. That's why it's the go-to chip manufacturer for top tech companies like Nvidia, Apple, Amazon, and AMD. ExpandNYSE: TSMTaiwan Semiconductor ManufacturingToday's Change(-1.85%) $-6.41Current Price$339.57Key Data PointsMarket Cap$1.8TDay's Range$339.33 - $347.9552wk Range$134.25 - $390.20Volume13MAvg Vol13MGross Margin58.73%Dividend Yield1.17% Most companies could rely on a different -- and cheaper -- chip manufacturer than TSMC, but they likely know it would mean sacrificing speed and scale. That's why TSMC can use its pricing power to maintain high margins. When you have such a dominant position in a vital industry, it almost guarantees sustained success. Good business results don't always correlate to stock price growth, but TSMC is a stock whose long-term trajectory I trust to be up.Read NextMar 18, 2026 •By Stefon WaltersThe Best AI Stocks to Invest $1,000 in Right NowMar 18, 2026 •By Justin PopeBuy These 3 Semiconductor Stocks Now and Thank Yourself in a DecadeMar 18, 2026 •By Keithen Drury2 Companies That Will Join Nvidia, Apple, and Alphabet in the $3 Trillion Club by 2028Mar 17, 2026 •By Adam SpataccoBig Tech Is Spending $720 Billion on AI in 2026, and This One Stock Gets Paid on Every DollarMar 16, 2026 •By Keithen Drury1 Clear AI Winner Investors Should Load Up OnMar 15, 2026 •By Adam LevyMeet the Next Member of the $2 Trillion Club. It's Up 97% in the Past Year, and It Can Still Climb Higher in 2026.About the AuthorStefon Walters is a contributing Motley Fool stock market analyst covering publicly traded companies across technology, consumer goods, and financials, as well as retirement planning. Stefon is a published author and has more than a decade of experience teaching financial literacy. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.TMFStefonWStocks MentionedTaiwan Semiconductor ManufacturingNYSE: TSM$339.56(-1.86%)-$6.42*Average returns of all recommendations since inception. Cost basis and return based on previous market day close.