The article pretty much says it right in the opening section
> investing a further $400 billion in the US alongside buying a stake in Intel seems improbable from a purely financial standpoint
TSMC's entire assets are ~$200,000,000,000 [1] (cash, inventory, accounts receivable, land, buildings and equipment.)
Buying 49% of Intel ... maybe. Intel's outstanding Market Cap is current ~$88,600,000,000. (4,377,000,000 outstanding shares [2] @ 20.26 8/5/25 midday price [3]). Double TSMC's entire assets is a bit extreme.
Notably, Intel's valuation also seems kind of nonsense. They made $13B in revenue last quarter. 2024 yearly was $53B ... on a market cap of $88B? Intel's been a mess lately, yet their valuation's also kind of a mess. If they ever stop bleeding money on operating profit and net income they won't look that bad.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TSMC
[2] https://www.nasdaq.com/market-activity/stocks/intc/instituti...
[3] https://www.nasdaq.com/market-activity/stocks/intc
> investing a further $400 billion in the US alongside buying a stake in Intel seems improbable from a purely financial standpoint
TSMC's entire assets are ~$200,000,000,000 [1] (cash, inventory, accounts receivable, land, buildings and equipment.)
Buying 49% of Intel ... maybe. Intel's outstanding Market Cap is current ~$88,600,000,000. (4,377,000,000 outstanding shares [2] @ 20.26 8/5/25 midday price [3]). Double TSMC's entire assets is a bit extreme.
Notably, Intel's valuation also seems kind of nonsense. They made $13B in revenue last quarter. 2024 yearly was $53B ... on a market cap of $88B? Intel's been a mess lately, yet their valuation's also kind of a mess. If they ever stop bleeding money on operating profit and net income they won't look that bad.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TSMC
[2] https://www.nasdaq.com/market-activity/stocks/intc/instituti...
[3] https://www.nasdaq.com/market-activity/stocks/intc