5 Best Pick and Shovel AI Stocks to Buy for the Long Term

2. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE:TSM)

Short interest: 0.5% 

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE:TSM) is effectively selling shovels in a gold rush with a near-dominant position in the industry. Its moat is wide because very few companies can match its scale, manufacturing precision at cutting-edge nanometer nodes, and ability to consistently produce high-yield chips for the world’s most advanced AI designs. Global semiconductor sales reached $99.5 billion in March, a 79% year-over-year surge, according to data from the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics organization.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE:TSM) has over 60% share of the total foundry market and over 90% of the market for advanced nodes (7nm and below). It makes chips for giants like Nvidia, Apple, Qualcomm, Broadcom and many more.

Read what a Broadcom executive recently said about the demand Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE:TSM) is facing here.

Wedgewood Partners stated the following regarding Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:

“Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) was a top contributor to portfolio performance in the first quarter. Revenues grew +25%, and the Company guided to accelerating revenue growth to +30% in 2026 as demand for compute accelerators for AI applications continues to ramp unabated. In addition, the Company recently reported that March revenue was up +45% year over year, +31% month over month, and +35% year to date. The semiconductor customer base has evolved to the point that the Company increasingly works directly with non-traditional end customers, particularly cloud service providers, to develop custom silicon. This helps the Company better match supply with demand, so despite strong revenue growth, the Company has kept capital expenditures relatively in line with revenue growth. In addition, the Company is raising prices as utilization rates at leading-edge nodes continue to climb. We trimmed positions because our holdings exceeded 10% of portfolios. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company remains a top holding.”