Every generation of investors finds a stock that is easy to buy and hard to sell. Decades ago, portfolio managers said that nobody ever got fired for buying IBM. Nowadays, no stock is as close to that position as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE:TSM).
According to Copley Fund Research’s data, TSM is present in over 90% of emerging-market and Asia ex-Japan active portfolios. Roughly two-thirds of global active managers own the stock.
Even US-focused portfolios — despite having domestic semiconductor champions of their own — continue treating TSM as a core holding rather than a regional allocation.
The Global Cornerstone
The reasons behind this investor interest are straightforward. Nearly every chip designer depends on TSM’s cutting-edge manufacturing nodes. According to TrendForce, the company controlled around 70% of the global foundry market by revenue in 2025.
This dominance is what creates the career-risk trade. Buying TSM no longer requires conviction. Avoiding it does.
Still, crowded trades rarely break because investors suddenly stop believing the long-term story. They break because a small crack appears in the narrative, and positioning does the rest.
The most obvious catalyst is …
This post was originally published here
