AMSTERDAM, January 28, 2026, 07:48 (CET)
- ASML reported Q4 bookings soaring to €13.2 billion, well beyond expectations, fueled by surging AI chip demand
- The company raised its sales forecast for 2026, targeting between €34 billion and €39 billion
- ASML’s EUV “chip printing” machines, which run around $250 million apiece, play a crucial role in producing processors on par with Nvidia’s.
ASML reported Wednesday that its fourth-quarter bookings soared to €13.2 billion ($15.8 billion), well above estimates, driven by chipmakers ramping up orders for AI chip equipment. The company also lifted its 2026 sales forecast to between €34 billion and €39 billion, reversing earlier guidance that predicted flat or declining growth versus 2025. This new outlook surpasses the analyst consensus, which stood near €35 billion, according to LSEG data.
The surge comes at a tricky time for those expecting the AI build-out to slow down. Orders at ASML often serve as an early signal of whether chip factories are actually being funded—or just mentioned in earnings calls.
ASML matters because it controls the choke point. Lithography is the process that prints circuit patterns onto silicon wafers, and without these tools, mass production of cutting-edge processors comes to a halt.
TSMC, ASML’s largest client and the key producer of Nvidia’s AI chips, is set to boost its 2026 capital expenditure by 37%, reaching $56 billion. Analysts predict Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron will also ramp up spending as memory supply tightens, based on LSEG data. John West from Yole Group described EUV as “the only game in town” for cutting-edge chips. Meanwhile, TechInsights’ Dan Hutcheson compared switching suppliers to “swapping a Formula One engine mid-race.” Reuters
ASML’s earnings release showed fourth-quarter sales hitting €9.7 billion, with a gross margin of 52.2% and net income at €2.8 billion. For 2025, total sales reached €32.7 billion and profit came in at €9.6 billion. The company reported €7.4 billion in bookings for EUV systems during the quarter, while its backlog closed the year at €38.8 billion. ASML also announced a fresh share buyback program of up to €12 billion, running through Dec. 31, 2028.
Orders funnel into a machine ASML prices at around $250 million: its extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography system. This bus-sized tool weighs roughly 150 tonnes and is built in the Netherlands, then shipped in about 40 containers. ASML fires lasers at tin droplets 50,000 times per second to produce 13-nanometre light, which is bounced off Zeiss mirrors to etch circuit layers onto wafers under vacuum. Customers like TSMC, Samsung, SK Hynix, Intel, Micron, and Japan’s Rapidus rely on these systems, which deliver “patterning precision, scalability and energy efficiency,” according to Luc Van den Hove, CEO of Belgian research group IMEC. Reuters
ASML’s quarterly results can jump around, given the steep price tags on its gear. Investors are zeroing in on how quickly chipmakers will pick up its latest High-NA EUV machines, which carry heftier average selling prices. J.P. Morgan’s Sandeep Deshpande says 2027 forecasts “have considerable upside,” while Ashwath Rao from Counterpoint points out that even “modest High-NA orders” would send a positive signal. Still, export restrictions and geopolitical tensions could complicate demand. Barron’s
ASML has begun booking revenue from High-NA systems, its next-gen EUV tech with a wider lens aperture for finer details, though volumes are still limited. Investors are keen to see how quickly sales pick up — and if the AI-fueled surge in orders continues after the next wave of chip fab budgets is finalized.
