For a long time, if you wanted to bet on AI in Asia, you bought Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSM). It was the go-to proxy for the entire AI boom, the company that makes the chips powering everything from ChatGPT to autonomous driving. But the AI trade is getting bigger, and investors are starting to look elsewhere.

A Bloomberg report on Friday highlighted a structural shift: money is flowing into a wider group of semiconductor and infrastructure companies that benefit from surging AI spending. Think memory chips, CPUs, robotics, and broader AI infrastructure — areas where Taiwan Semiconductor has less exposure.

"The market is structurally rotating beyond Taiwan Semiconductor," said Jason Hsu, CIO of Rayliant Global Advisors, in the Bloomberg report. Investors are hunting for emerging winners across the semiconductor ecosystem as the AI boom spreads.

One of the key drivers is the rise of "agentic AI" — AI agents that can perform tasks autonomously. Brian Ooi, a portfolio manager at Swiss-Asia Financial Services, explained that these agents require more CPU capacity, not just the graphics processing units (GPUs) that Taiwan Semiconductor specializes in. As the industry shifts from training massive AI models to running inference on those models, demand for CPUs is growing.

MediaTek and Samsung Step Into the Spotlight

MediaTek shares have recently outpaced Taiwan Semiconductor, especially after NVIDIA Corp. (NVDA) earnings reinforced expectations for broader AI infrastructure demand. Analysts pointed to MediaTek's role in helping Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) develop custom AI chips — a sign that the AI chip market is no longer a one-company show.

Taiwan Semiconductor also has a notable blind spot: memory and storage. The company doesn't make memory chips, which are crucial for AI systems that need to store and retrieve massive amounts of data. That's opened the door for Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (SSNLF) and SK Hynix to attract increasing investor interest. Both companies are major players in high-bandwidth memory (HBM), a key component for AI accelerators.

Kevin Net of Financiere de l'Echiquier told Bloomberg that his fund remains "structurally underweight" Taiwan Semiconductor due to portfolio concentration limits, while increasing exposure to companies like MediaTek and Samsung. It's a sentiment that seems to be catching on.

What's Next for Taiwan Semiconductor?

Despite the rotation, Taiwan Semiconductor remains a powerhouse. The next major catalyst for the stock is its earnings report, estimated for July 16, 2026. Analysts are expecting big numbers:

• EPS Estimate: $3.69 (up from $2.47 a year ago)
• Revenue Estimate: $39.76 billion (up from $30.07 billion a year ago)
• Valuation: P/E of 35.1x — a premium compared to peers, but justified by its dominant position.

Analyst consensus is a Buy, with an average price target of $420.00. Recent moves include Barclays raising its forecast to $470.00 (Overweight), DA Davidson maintaining $450.00 (Buy), and Needham boosting its target to $480.00 (Buy).

As of Friday premarket, Taiwan Semiconductor shares were up 0.31% at $408.41, approaching their 52-week high of $421.97. The stock is still a favorite, but the AI trade is no longer a solo act.