ASML ups outlook

ASML raised its 2026 sales outlook after first-quarter results beat expectations, saying artificial intelligence demand is pushing chip orders faster than factories can supply them. (asml.com) The Dutch company said on April 15 that it now expects 2026 net sales of €36 billion to €40 billion, up from its earlier €34 billion to €39 billion range. First-quarter net sales were €8.8 billion, gross margin was 53.0%, and net income was €2.8 billion. (asml.com) ASML sells the machines that print circuit patterns onto silicon wafers, the base discs used to make chips. Its most advanced extreme ultraviolet machines use 13.5-nanometer light and are required for mass production of the most advanced chips. (asml.com) Chief executive Christophe Fouquet said customers have increased their expected short- and medium-term demand and are accelerating capacity expansion plans for 2026 and beyond. Reuters reported analysts had expected about €37.7 billion in 2026 sales, and ASML’s new range moved above that midpoint. (asml.com, finance.yahoo.com) The immediate constraint is not demand for artificial intelligence chips, but the pace at which the industry can add the tools and factories needed to make them. ASML said demand for chips is outpacing supply, and Reuters reported the company plans to ship 60 of its low-numerical-aperture extreme ultraviolet systems in 2026, up 25% from 2025. (asml.com, finance.yahoo.com) Export controls remain the other limit. Fouquet said ASML’s 2026 guidance range includes possible outcomes from ongoing export-control discussions, while the Dutch government said in January 2025 that it would tighten national controls on more advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment from April 1, 2025. (asml.com, government.nl) Those controls already cover ASML’s extreme ultraviolet systems and several deep ultraviolet immersion tools, the less advanced but still critical machines used in many chip lines. ASML said in 2024 that Dutch license rules applied to its extreme ultraviolet systems and to multiple TWINSCAN deep ultraviolet immersion models. (asml.com) China has been a large customer, but that share is shrinking. CNBC reported system sales to China fell to 19% of ASML’s total sales in the first quarter from 36% in the December quarter, and chief financial officer Roger Dassen said ASML still expects about 20% of 2026 sales to go to China. (cnbc.com, finance.yahoo.com) That mix matters because ASML sits near the narrowest part of the chip supply chain. Its 2025 annual report said the company had more than 44,000 employees, about 5,100 suppliers, and €32.7 billion in 2025 net sales, underscoring how many companies depend on one toolmaker’s output. (asml.com) ASML’s update says the artificial intelligence buildout is still strong enough to lift revenue even as governments tighten access to chip tools. It also says the supply of advanced chips will keep depending on how fast one company can ship the machines that make them. (asml.com, finance.yahoo.com)