Inside The Eye Of The Storm - $90 Target On TSMCIf you've seen my posts on Minds (particularly the board for NASDAQ:SOX ), it’s no secret that I’ve been bearish on semiconductors for some time. My bearish thesis is based on several factors: technical indicators, overvaluation of certain companies, and skepticism that AI-driven demand will result in broad-based prosperity. As the charts grow increasingly overbought, unfolding geopolitical developments could soon deliver a shock to the semiconductor sector, reinforcing the technical signals I’m observing.
At the time of writing, the market is turning bearish. Futures are down over 1%, and the TVC:US10Y is up nearly 2%. Institutional investors remain cautious about the U.S. economy due to its high debt levels and efforts to raise the debt ceiling to accommodate an additional $2 trillion in debt-financed tax cuts. Meanwhile, on the trade war front, the U.S. and China have agreed to deescalate tensions, a surprisingly smooth shift after weeks of posturing and brinkmanship. Although SP:SPX surged over 2% on the news, something feels off—worthy of speculation.
Recent articles in Foreign Affairs (www.foreignaffairs.com) and The Economist (www.economist.com) suggest that President Xi may now see his best opportunity to fulfill his longstanding goal of reunifying China.
I encourage reading those articles if you're interested, but here’s my take—and how it relates to a low-risk/high-reward short trade in semiconductors. By striking a tariff-reduction deal with the Trump administration, China has removed a key obstacle that could have otherwise hindered military action against Taiwan. While Trump has flip-flopped on Taiwan over the years, he has previously threatened sanctions and tariffs as deterrents. But with the economy already strained, reimposing tariffs of 145% or higher would be self-defeating.
This opens the door for China to escalate. Over the past month, we’ve seen “gray zone” tactics: military drills, suspicious Chinese fishing vessels dragging anchors near undersea cables, and reports that China may use its coast guard to “quarantine” vessels heading to or from Taiwan—potentially inflicting serious economic pain. Such moves would place the U.S. in a precarious position.
To compound the risk, Taiwan imports 90% of its energy—mostly LNG—and just shut down its last nuclear reactor on Friday (5/16), which supplied around 4.5% of the nation’s power. In 2023, NYSE:TSM alone used more than 8% of Taiwan’s electricity, according to Business Insider. Any disruption to power or communications would halt production.
This leads me to believe that China may attempt to annex Taiwan before 2027. (After all, why announce an invasion years in advance?) According to WIRED, NYSE:TSM produces at least 90% of the world’s most advanced chips, and Taiwanese companies control 68% of total global chip production. These fundamentals make Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company arguably the most vulnerable firm to any disruption in Taiwanese exports.
I’ve covered the market’s broader setup in other posts, so I’ll keep the technical analysis here brief. On the weekly chart (right), NYSE:TSM ’s price rose from October 2022 to January 2025 in five distinct waves. That uptrend has now been broken, and the price appears to be in the right shoulder of a large Head & Shoulders pattern. While the downside potential is open-ended, we can estimate a target using technicals. I expect the price to slice through the entirety of Wave (3) and find support in the blue-box, which aligns with the volume profile and 0.618–0.786 Fibonacci retracements. A break below the weekly 200MA would be a very bearish sign. For now, I’ve set my target for NYSE:TSM at $90.
Zooming in, the daily chart (right) shows numerous gaps and doji candles. The high-volume days were dominated by selling. On the 100R chart (left), including after-hours trading, the Fisher Transform oscillator shows bearish divergence. Although Friday closed flat (0.00%), the stock dropped nearly 2% after hours. I expect a move back to VWAP, especially if the broader market trends lower this week.
To gauge how TSMC stacks up against the broader industry, let’s look at some peers. On the semiconductor index NASDAQ:SOX , there are two key gaps worth watching—similar to what we see in other indexes. The price is currently at the 0.618 retracement of Wave (A) and briefly peaked above the 200MA. I expect it to move lower from here, likely filling those gaps and setting new lows.
For NASDAQ:NVDA , I’m seeing a Head & Shoulders pattern forming, with the price currently in Wave (B). Several downside price gaps exist, and more notably, there’s a volume gap between $95 and $102.
On the 500R chart (left), Nvidia is clearly overbought and facing resistance at the upper VWAP band. A move to the 1.618 extension would be extreme—but there’s an order block around that level, along with a gap down near $31, visible on the daily chart (right). Such a steep drop would require a major catalyst. While it’s unclear how reliant NASDAQ:NVDA is on Taiwan, it’s reasonable to assume the leading AI chipmaker depends on a supply chain anchored by the company producing 90% of the world’s advanced chips.
NASDAQ:AMD , another company heavily reliant on TSMC’s fabs, shows a very bearish setup on the weekly chart (right) when using a logarithmic scale. However, price action from the past year on the 500R chart (left) suggests it could move higher if basic Elliott Wave principles hold. AMD’s beta is 2.14 versus TSM’s 1.68, indicating lower correlation with the broader market. It may therefore be less compatible with wave theory, but it's still an essential ticker to monitor, especially as it diverges from NASDAQ:SOX and peers.
To conclude, considering the current overbought level of NYSE:TSM , coupled with the broader market pivoting back to a bearish trend, and its unique position at the center of a geopolitical and trade crisis, I think shorting TSMC provides a low risk/high reward setup with a target of $90. All of this to say, I am not a coldhearted opportunist, and I hope Taiwan can remain a free, democratic, country that is able to withstand China’s grey-zone tactics. Unfortunately, we should be prepared for Xi to use this opportunity to find out just how committed to Taiwan the Trump administration is, and as we saw during the COVID shutdown and subsequent supply shortages, microprocessors are some of the most essential products in the world that just so happen to be produced in the most vulnerable country in Asia. I suspect that there is trouble afoot.
Thank you for reading and let me know what you think.
