TAIPEI - TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, reported strong growth in second-quarter revenue on Wednesday that handily beat market forecasts, on the back of booming demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, whose customers include Apple and Nvidia, has benefited from the surge towards AI that has helped it weather the tapering off of pandemic-led demand and pushed TSMC's share price to a record high.

Revenue in the April-June period of this year came in at T$673.51 billion ($20.67 billion), according to Reuters calculations, compared with an LSEG SmartEstimate, drawn from 21 analysts, of T$654.27 billion.

That represents growth of 32% on-year, compared with $15.68 billion in the year-ago period.

It is not a direct comparison as TSMC provides monthly revenue data only in Taiwan dollars, but gives quarterly revenue figures and its outlook on its quarterly earnings calls both in U.S. dollars.

On its most recent earnings call in April, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co forecast second quarter revenue in a range of between $19.6 billion to $20.4 billion.

For June alone, TSMC reported that revenue rose 33% year-on-year to T$207.87 billion.

The company did not provide details in its brief revenue statement.

TSMC shares rose 0.5% on Wednesday, taking its gains far this year to around 76%.

($1 = 32.5790 Taiwan dollars)

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Faith Hung; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Kim Coghill)