TSM 1-year price chart, up 68% over the period despite the recent pullback. Chart from TradingView.
Short term signals have flipped bearish, but the long term trend has not broken yet.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company closed at $403.41, down 2.93% ($12.17) on the day. That single session loss is not an isolated event. Zoom out to the past month and TSM is down 7.2% ($31.32), a meaningful pullback for a stock that spent most of the year grinding steadily higher. Zoom out further, to the past year, and the picture flips entirely, TSM is still up 68% ($163.29), one of the strongest 12 month runs of any large cap semiconductor name.
That is the tension at the center of this chart right now. A stock in a powerful, undisputed long term uptrend is going through its sharpest short term correction in months. The question every chart reader is asking is whether this is healthy consolidation after an enormous run, or the first sign of a bigger trend change. Here is what the technical picture actually shows, level by level.
📉 The Technical Rating Has Flipped to Sell
Pull up TSM's full technical summary on the daily timeframe and the read is unambiguous in the near term, Sell, with 12 indicators flagging Sell, 10 sitting Neutral, and only 4 still on Buy. That is a meaningful shift from where this stock was trading a few months ago, when the broader signal set was aligned bullish. The Oscillators panel is even more one sided, 2 Sell, 9 Neutral, 0 Buy, meaning not a single momentum based indicator is currently flagging upside strength.
This matters because oscillators tend to react faster than trend following tools like moving averages. When oscillators turn negative first, it is often an early warning that the pace of a rally is slowing down, even before the price itself rolls over in a major way. That is exactly the pattern showing up here.
🔬 Reading the Oscillators in Detail
The individual numbers tell a more nuanced story than the blanket Sell rating suggests. The Relative Strength Index sits at 42.40, which is Neutral, not oversold. Oversold conditions on the standard RSI reading typically start below 30, so TSM has room to fall further before hitting that extreme. Stochastic percent K reads 38.26, also Neutral, telling a similar story, this is a stock cooling off, not one that has been beaten down to an extreme.
The more genuinely bearish signals are in momentum. The MACD Level reads negative 5.71 on a Sell signal, confirming the recent price action has real downside momentum behind it, not just noise. Momentum itself, the 10 period reading, sits at negative 30.70, also flagged Sell. The Commodity Channel Index is deeply negative at negative 105.76, though it is still classified Neutral on this particular reading scale. Bull Bear Power sits at negative 23.47, reflecting that sellers have had clear control of recent sessions.
Put together, this is a stock with real, confirmed downside momentum on the shorter timeframes, but not yet at the kind of oversold extreme that typically marks a durable bottom. That combination often means there is more room for the pullback to continue before it exhausts itself, though it does not guarantee that outcome.
📊 The Moving Average Split Is the Real Story
If there is one section of this data that best explains what is actually happening to TSM right now, it is the moving averages, and specifically the split between the short term and long term readings.
Every short and medium term moving average is flashing Sell right now. The 10 day exponential average sits at 416.21, the 10 day simple average at 413.67, both above the current price of 403.41, meaning price has fallen below its recent short term trend. The 20 day averages read 422.30 (EMA) and 428.62 (SMA). The 30 day averages sit at 423.65 and 431.96. Even the 50 day averages, 419.29 EMA and 426.07 SMA, sit comfortably above where the stock trades today. Every one of these is flagged Sell, because price is now trading beneath all of them.
But look further out and the picture reverses completely. The 100 day exponential average sits at 399.02, the 100 day simple average at 395.26, both below the current price, both flagged Buy. The 200 day averages are even further below, 359.81 EMA and 354.83 SMA, also Buy. In plain terms, TSM has fallen back to test its intermediate term trend, the 50 to 100 day range, while its long term trend, the 200 day average, remains firmly beneath the current price and nowhere close to being threatened.
TSM intraday candlestick chart showing the sharp breakdown session on elevated volume. Chart from TradingView.
The intraday chart above shows how this played out in real time. A sharp red candle broke through the 405 level on volume of 11.53 million shares, a clear step down from the choppier, lower volume price action in the sessions before it. That is the kind of high volume breakdown candle that traders watch closely, because it suggests real selling pressure rather than a slow drift lower on thin volume.
🧱 Where Support Actually Sits
Given the moving average structure, there are two zones worth watching closely. The first is the 395 to 400 area, which lines up with both the 100 day simple moving average and the psychologically significant 400 level that price has already broken below intraday. If TSM stabilizes here, it would suggest the intermediate term trend is holding and this pullback is contained.
The second, more important zone sits much lower, around 355 to 360, where the 200 day moving averages currently sit. A decline all the way down to that level would represent a far more serious technical event, effectively erasing several months of gains and testing the primary long term trend line that has supported this stock through its entire run over the past year. That is a wide gap from current levels, roughly 11 to 12% below where TSM trades today, and it would take a sustained, multi week decline to get there.
For context on how far price would need to fall to threaten the real trend, consider that TSM is still up 68% over the past year even after this pullback. A decline to the 200 day average zone would still leave the stock up meaningfully on the year. That is worth remembering before assuming a short term Sell rating means the broader story has changed.
📰 A Headline That Coincides With the Move
One relevant piece of news landed in the same window as this pullback. TSMC's latest weekly recap disclosed the company is boosting its 2026 capital expenditure guidance to a range of $60 to $64 billion, alongside a previously announced $265 billion U.S. investment plan. It would be overreaching to call this the confirmed cause of the selloff, correlation in timing is not the same as proof of causation, but it is a plausible contributor worth naming. Higher capex is not inherently bad news, it often signals confidence in future demand, yet markets do sometimes sell first and ask questions later when spending guidance jumps sharply, particularly in a stock that had already run up substantially over the prior year.
The honest position is that this article cannot prove the capex headline caused the technical breakdown described above. What can be said is that the two events overlapped, and that a large spending increase is a reasonable, if unconfirmed, explanation for at least part of the selling pressure.
📦 The Volume Detail Worth Noting
One detail from the intraday chart is worth calling out on its own. The breakdown session that took TSM through the 405 level traded 11.53 million shares, visibly heavier than the surrounding sessions. Higher volume on a down candle is typically read as a sign that real size changed hands rather than a drift lower on thin interest. It is one data point, not proof of a sustained trend, but it is consistent with the Sell readings elsewhere in the oscillators rather than contradicting them.
⚖️ Reading Both Signals at Once
The point worth underlining is that the short term Sell readings and the long term Buy readings are not contradicting each other, they are measuring different things. Traders who only check the daily summary see a Sell rating and stop there. Traders who only check the 200 day trend see an intact uptrend and dismiss the pullback. Neither view alone is complete.
🧭 Two Scenarios From Here
Bullish case: Price stabilizes in the 395 to 400 zone, where the 100 day moving average sits, and the oscillators begin curling back up from Neutral toward Buy as the selling pressure exhausts itself. That would confirm this was a sharp but contained correction inside a larger uptrend, consistent with TSMC's continued heavy capex commitment to future AI and chip demand.
Bearish case: Selling continues to push through the 100 day average without finding support, RSI eventually drops into oversold territory below 30, and price works its way down toward the 355 to 360 zone where the 200 day moving average sits. That would represent a far more serious technical breakdown and would suggest the market is repricing TSMC's growth expectations rather than simply digesting a strong prior run.
🔭 The Bigger Picture
The next several sessions matter more than usual here. A stock that finds its footing near the 100 day average and stabilizes would confirm the long term trend is still doing the driving. A stock that keeps sliding without pausing would be a signal this pullback has become something bigger. The 200 day moving average, sitting far below at 355 to 360, remains the level that would need to break before anyone could reasonably call this an end to TSMC's broader uptrend rather than a pause inside it.
Off to you: does TSM stabilize around its 100 day average, or does this pullback have further to run before the long term trend line comes into play?
FAQs
What is TSM's current technical rating?
The overall daily technical summary reads Sell, with 12 indicators on Sell, 10 Neutral, and 4 Buy. Oscillators alone are even more negative, 2 Sell, 9 Neutral, and 0 Buy.
Is TSM oversold right now?
Not yet by the standard measure. RSI reads 42.40, which is Neutral. Oversold conditions typically begin below 30, so there may be room for further downside before the stock reaches that extreme.
Why are short term and long term moving averages disagreeing on TSM?
Price has fallen below every moving average inside 50 days, which is why those are flagged Sell, while the 100 and 200 day averages remain well below current price and are still flagged Buy. This split reflects a short term pullback happening inside a longer term uptrend that has not broken.
What is driving TSM's recent decline?
TSMC recently disclosed it is raising 2026 capital expenditure guidance to 60 to 64 billion dollars alongside its existing 265 billion dollar U.S. investment plan, a headline that appears to have triggered profit taking in a stock that had already risen sharply over the past year.
Where is the key support level for TSM?
The 395 to 400 zone lines up with the 100 day moving average and is the first level worth watching. A deeper decline toward 355 to 360 would test the 200 day moving average, a far more significant long term trend level.
Has TSM's long term uptrend actually broken?
Not based on this data. The stock remains up 68% over the past year, and the 200 day moving average, the standard long term trend gauge, is still rising and sits well below the current price.
Disclaimer: This analysis is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or trading advice. Technical levels and ratings are derived from a snapshot of trading app data and are approximate, verify current levels on a live chart before making any decisions. Past performance does not guarantee future results.