TSMC is paying out a huge cash dividend and the stock just closed at an all-time high — good news for shareholders, and especially for Taiwan's government, its single biggest holder.

• TSMC pays about NT$7 a share on October 8, roughly NT$180 billion in total cash.
• The government's National Development Fund, holding over 6% of the company, collects the biggest single check — far more than founder Morris Chang.
• A US brokerage raised its target price and kept a buy rating ahead of next week's earnings call, betting TSMC can raise chip prices across the board next year.
• Taiwan's main index is flirting with the 50,000 mark, with money chasing space-themed stocks, memory, specialty chemicals and newly listed small caps.
• MediaTek is taking heat for capping how much AI tool usage its engineers get, with one well-known analyst threatening to dump the stock over it.

Outlook: TSMC's earnings call next week is the next test, and expectations for price hikes are already baked into the record-high share price.