By Kosaku Narioka

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. reported third-quarter results on Thursday. Here's what you need to know.

NET PROFIT: TSMC's third-quarter net profit rose 36% to 137.31 billion New Taiwan dollars (US$4.77 billion), beating the estimate of NT$127.16 billion from a FactSet poll of analysts.

REVENUE: TSMC's third-quarter revenue increased 22% from a year earlier to NT$356.43 billion.

WHAT WE WATCHED:

--CHINA REVENUE: TSMC said revenue from customers based in China made up 22% of the total in the third quarter, up from 21% in the previous quarter and 20% a year earlier. The U.S. government restricted global chip makers that use U.S. technology from supplying semiconductors to Huawei Technologies Co. Analysts said TSMC was able to offset its Huawei sales losses by reallocating production capacity to other clients.

--OUTLOOK: TSMC expects fourth-quarter revenue to rise to between US$12.4 billion and US$12.7 billion, or 2.1% to 4.6% higher than its third-quarter revenue of US$12.14 billion. TSMC Chief Financial Officer Wendell Huang said growth is likely to be supported by strong demand for its 5-nanometer technology, driven by 5G smartphone launches and high-performance computing-related applications.

Write to Kosaku Narioka at kosaku.narioka@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

10-15-20 0358ET