Semiconductor giant warns capacity shortages for chipmaking tool orders will extend to 2028.
ASML has raised its full-year sales forecast following strong demand for its lithography equipment, warning that AI-driven market momentum will prevent it from fully satisfying customer orders through 2027 and 2028.
The Dutch semiconductor equipment manufacturer raised its full-year sales projection to between $49.3 billion and $50.4 billion (€44 billion to €45 billion), supported by anticipated fourth-quarter sales of $15.9 billion to $17.0 billion, with a gross margin of approximately 57 per cent. For the third quarter, ASML reported net profit of $5.56 billion on net sales of $13.1 billion, surpassing consensus market expectations.
Chief Executive Christophe Fouquet noted that customer discussions are increasingly shifting beyond 2027, with major chipmakers—including TSMC, Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron, Intel, and Elon Musk’s Terafab—expressing interest in booking deliveries into 2029 and 2030. Although ASML previously committed to expanding capacity by 30 per cent in 2027 and a further 30 per cent in 2028, Fouquet conceded that those increases will prove insufficient to meet global demand.
To mitigate short-term production bottlenecks ahead of its planned facility expansion in Eindhoven, Chief Financial Officer Roger Dassen stated that ASML will focus on upgrading existing field systems and shipping higher-throughput machine variants. ING analyst Marc Hesselink described management’s outlook as highly constructive, expecting consensus earnings estimates through 2028 to be revised upwards.
