*

Analysts expect a 52% jump in second-quarter profit

*

TSMC benefiting from surge towards AI

*

Earnings call at 0600 GMT

(Updates market forecast for net profit, paragraph 2)

TAIPEI, July 17 (Reuters) - TSMC, the world's

main producer of advanced AI chips, is expected to post a 52%

jump in second-quarter profit to record levels on Thursday,

though U.S. tariffs and a strong Taiwan dollar could weigh on

its outlook.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co ( TSM ), the world's largest

contract chipmaker and a key supplier to Nvidia ( NVDA ) and

Apple ( AAPL ), is forecast to report a net profit of T$377.9

billion ($12.86 billion) for the three months through June 30,

according to an LSEG SmartEstimate compiled from 20 analysts.

SmartEstimates place greater weight on forecasts from

analysts who are more consistently accurate.

The company will report the headline profit figure at

0530 GMT which will be followed by an earnings call from 0600

GMT that will include third-quarter guidance.

TSMC has already flagged a rise in second-quarter revenue of

38.6%. Any profit result above T$374.68 billion would mark the

company's highest-ever quarterly net income and its sixth

consecutive quarter of profit growth.

It remains unclear just how much U.S. President Donald

Trump's tariffs will affect TSMC.

Taiwan was threatened with a 32% reciprocal tariff rate in

April but has yet to be notified of an updated figure that some

countries have received. Trump also said this month that tariffs

on semiconductors are likely to come soon.

The company said in June that U.S. tariffs were having some

indirect impact, noting they can lead to slightly higher prices,

which may in turn weigh on demand.

In March, TSMC announced a $100 billion investment in the

U.S. alongside Trump at the White House, on top of $65 billion

pledged for three Arizona plants - two of which have been built.

Another key issue is the Taiwan dollar's 12%

appreciation against the greenback so far this year.

TSMC has said a 1% appreciation in the Taiwan dollar

typically reduces its gross margin by 0.4 percentage points. In

June, the company said that the strengthening in the Taiwan

dollar had shaved more than 3 percentage points off its gross

margin.

Shares in TSMC surged some 80% last year but have climbed

just 5% for the year to date on worries about tariffs and

unfavourable currency exchange rates.

($1 = 29.3910 Taiwan dollars)

(Reporting by Wen-Yee Lee and Ben Blanchard; Editing by Edwina

Gibbs and Muralikumar Anantharaman)