3 Chip and Software Giants Paid Dividends on the Same Day. 1 Hasn’t Raised Its Payout Since 2023.
Three chip and software giants sent dividend checks to shareholders on the same day, but their records tell very different stories about which boards are sharing their growth and which are quietly holding out.
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On October 8, 2026, three large tech companies paid shareholders on the same day: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM | TSM Price Prediction), Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) and NXP Semiconductors (NASDAQ:NXPI). All three come from the same part of the market: chips and enterprise software. Two of them paid more than they did in the same quarter a year ago. NXP paid exactly the same amount and has paid that amount every quarter since April 2023.
Dividend Scorecard at a Glance
| Company | Paid Oct. 8 | Same Quarter 2025 | Annualized Rate | Yield at Current Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TSMC | $1.107454 per ADR | $0.81577 | $4.429816 | 0.95% |
| Salesforce | $0.44 per share | $0.416 | $1.76 | 0.77% |
| NXP | $1.014 per share | $1.014 | $4.056 | 1.74% |
TSMC: Biggest Jump in Dollars Paid
TSMC is the world’s largest contract chipmaker. Companies like Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) design their own chips, and TSMC manufactures them in its factories. Its most advanced production lines make the processors that run AI data centers, and chips built at 7nm and below made up 77% of its wafer revenue last quarter.
ADR holders received $1.107454 per share on the payment date, which comes to $110.75 on 100 shares. A year earlier, the same quarter’s payment was $0.81577. The annualized rate at the current payout is $4.429816 per ADR. With the ADR priced at $465.03 in premarket trading (up 1.5% from Thursday’s close), that works out to a yield of 0.95%.
A note on currency: TSMC announces its dividend in Taiwan dollars, TWD 7.00 per share for this payment, and the amount gets converted into U.S. dollars for ADR holders. The 35.8% year-over-year increase is the change in dollars that ADR holders received, so it captures two things: whatever TSMC changed in its Taiwan-dollar payout, plus how the exchange rate moved. Read it as a measure of what ADR holders collected in U.S. dollars, with the board’s Taiwan-dollar raise as only one component.
Can the business support it? Easily. Second-quarter revenue rose 36.0% to $40.20 billion with a 67.7% gross margin. September revenue alone came to $16.03 billion, up 54.6% from a year earlier. The annualized dividend equals roughly 32% of trailing earnings per ADR of $13.76. The low yield reflects how far the ADR has climbed: it is up 43.3% this year. TSMC reports third-quarter results on October 15.
Salesforce: A Modest Raise From a Young Dividend
Salesforce sells cloud software that companies use to manage customer relationships, including sales pipelines, customer service, marketing, and analytics. It is now selling AI agents through Agentforce, which has annual recurring revenue above $1.5 billion, up 240% from a year earlier.
Shareholders received $0.44 per share, or $44 on 100 shares. That compares with $0.416 in the same quarter a year ago, an increase of 5.8%. The annualized rate is $1.76. At a premarket price of $228.55 (up 0.3%), the yield is 0.77%. The stock has fallen 10.2% year to date as investors argue over what AI means for software, a debate CNBC described as putting the shares at the “epicenter of AI confusion.”
Can the business support it? Yes, and the dividend is a small part of what Salesforce returns to shareholders. The annualized payout uses about 16% of trailing EPS of $10.93. Buybacks do most of the work: a $25 billion accelerated share repurchase reduced diluted shares to 821 million from 962 million a year earlier. Second-quarter revenue grew 10.8% to $11.35 billion, and management raised its full-year revenue forecast to $46.1 billion to $46.4 billion.
NXP: Same Check Since April 2023
NXP makes chips that control physical machines. Its biggest market is cars, where its processors and sensors run everything from braking to infotainment. It also supplies industrial equipment, connected devices, and network infrastructure. Automotive revenue was $1.94 billion last quarter.
Shareholders received $1.014 per share, or $101.40 on 100 shares. The same quarter a year earlier also paid $1.014, and NXP has paid that exact quarterly amount since April 2023. The annualized rate is $4.056. At a premarket price of $233.88 (up 1.2%), the yield is 1.74%, the highest of the three. The stock is up 4.4% year to date.
NXP has frozen its payout, so income investors still receive every dollar they were getting three years ago. What they lose is growth: inflation has eroded the purchasing power of that payment each year it stayed the same. A raise tells investors that the board expects cash flow to keep growing. A freeze lasting several years tells them the board would rather keep flexibility, putting extra cash toward buybacks, which totaled $104 million last quarter, or toward the business itself.
Can the business support it? Comfortably, which makes the freeze look like a deliberate choice. Second-quarter revenue rose 19.5% to $3.50 billion, net income climbed 72.4%, and free cash flow reached $791 million. Quarterly dividends of $256 million used about 32% of that free cash flow, and the annualized payout equals roughly 36% of trailing EPS of $11.27. Management forecast third-quarter revenue of $3.65 billion to $3.85 billion. If that growth holds, the next declaration will show whether the board shares any of it with dividend investors.
Three Boards on Three Different Dividend Calendars
The three companies plan their dividends on quite different timelines. TSMC announced this payment on May 12, 2026, nearly five months before the money went out. NXP declared on August 28, 2026, and Salesforce on September 3, 2026, each just weeks ahead of the payment.
TSMC’s long lead time gives ADR holders early visibility on the Taiwan-dollar amount. The U.S.-listed pair keep more flexibility to adjust close to the payment date. Investors who prefer not to wait a full quarter between payments have options on a different schedule entirely. (We rounded up seven monthly payers in a free report you can grab here.)
Why Some Shareholders Got Nothing on October 8
Eligibility for a dividend depends on when you bought the shares. Every dividend follows four dates:
- The declaration date marks when the board announces the amount and the schedule.
- The record date is when the company checks its records to see who owns shares and is owed the payment.
- The ex-dividend date is the cutoff for buyers. Anyone who buys on or after this date does not get the upcoming payment, and the seller keeps it.
- The payment date is when the cash lands in the accounts of eligible shareholders.
TSMC and NXP had September 16, 2026, ex-dividend dates, and Salesforce’s was the following day. So, buyers of these stocks in late September or early October own the shares but missed this payment. They will be eligible for the next one.
What Income Investors Should Take From This Round
Always read a yield alongside the stock’s price. TSMC’s payout grew fastest of the three, up 35.8% in dollar terms. It yields just 0.95% because the ADR has rallied so hard this year. NXP has the highest yield at 1.74%, and that yield comes from a payout that hasn’t changed since April 2023. TSMC’s payout is rising alongside strong earnings, while NXP’s higher yield will remain a fixed income stream until its board decides otherwise.
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Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.
Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community.
Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.
Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions.
