ASML Holding NV booked more than twice as many orders as analysts expected in the fourth quarter of last year, as the artificial intelligence (AI) boom drove demand for its chipmaking machines.
The Dutch company reported order bookings of 7.09 billion euros (US$7.4 billion) in the fourth quarter, it said in a statement yesterday. That compares with an average estimate of 3.53 billion euros by analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
“AI is the clear driver,” ASML chief executive officer Christophe Fouquet said. “We really believe that AI is creating a shift in the market and we have seen customers benefiting from it very strongly.”
Photo: Reuters
The results came as the company reported a drop in annual net profit for last year at 7.6 billion euros, compared with 7.8 billion euros the previous year. Total net sales last year were 28.3 billion euros, a slight gain on the company’s forecast of 28 billion euros. In 2023, ASML booked sales of 27.6 billion euros.
ASML left its annual sales forecast of between 30 billion euros to 35 billion euros for this year unchanged since its last guidance in October last year.
Net bookings were driven by demand for ASML’s most advanced extreme ultraviolet lithography machines, for which 3 billion euros of orders were placed in the fourth quarter.
Despite the growing number of restrictions, ASML benefited from strong demand from China last year as chipmakers there bought up older kits used to make more mature types of semiconductors.
China accounted for 1.92 billion euros of sales in the fourth quarter, 27 percent of ASML’s total. The company expects China sales to fall to about 20 percent of total revenue this year.
“2025 will be a year where we see China going back to a more normal ratio in our business,” the company said in a statement.
ASML’s market capitalization fell by more than 19 billion euros on Monday on concern that a new AI model by Chinese start-up DeepSeek (深度求索) can provide comparable performance to Western chatbots at a fraction of the price. ASML makes machines needed to produce some high-end chips that the Chinese company is barred from purchasing.
US pressure on ASML to further restrict sales of semiconductor technology to Beijing will likely grow under US President Donald Trump, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said in an interview with Bloomberg at the World Economic Forum last week in Davos.
However, DeepSeek’s progress suggests Chinese AI engineers have found a way to work around the bans, focusing on greater efficiency with limited resources. Its latest model raised questions about the effectiveness of the trade curbs.
However, Fouquet welcomed the emergence of DeepSeek and predicted others would disrupt the sector.
"If you ask me, for us, anyone that lowers cost is in fact good news for ASML," Fouquet told reporters yesterday.
"Because lower cost means AI can be used in more applications. More applications mean more chips. And we are in the business of providing equipment to people to make chips," he said.
Given the potential size of the AI market, Fouquet said more upstarts would likely explode onto the scene in coming months.
Asked about DeepSeek as the "elephant in the room", Fouquet quipped: "You should expect to see a few elephants in the room in the next few months or few years."
"And I think the competition, especially when it comes to software... will be very high."
Additional reporting by AFP
The domestic unit of the Chinese-owned, Dutch-headquartered chipmaker Nexperia BV will soon be able to produce semiconductors locally within China, according to two company sources. Nexperia is at the center of a global tug-of-war over critical semiconductor technology, with a Dutch court in February ordering a probe into alleged mismanagement at the company. The geopolitical tussle has disrupted supply chains, with some carmakers reportedly forced to cut production due to chip shortages. Local production would allow Nexperia’s domestic arm, Nexperia Semiconductors (China) Ltd (安世半導體中國), to bypass restrictions in place since October on the supply of silicon wafers — etched with tiny components to
Singapore-based ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab Holdings Ltd has applied for regulatory approval to acquire the Taiwan operations of Germany-based Delivery Hero SE's Foodpanda in a deal valued at about US$600 million. Grab submitted the filing to the Fair Trade Commission on Friday last week, with the transaction subject to regulatory review and approval, the company said in a statement yesterday. Its independent governance structure would help foster a healthy and competitive market in Taiwan if the deal is approved, Grab said. Grab, which is listed on the NASDAQ, said in the filing that US-based Uber Technologies Inc holds about 13 percent of
Taiwan is open to joining a global liquefied natural gas (LNG) program if one is created, but on the condition that countries provide delivery even in a scenario where there is a conflict with China, an energy department official said yesterday. While Taiwan’s priority is to have enough LNG at home, the nation is open to exploring potential strategic reserves in other countries such as Japan or South Korea, Energy Administration Deputy Director-General Chen Chung-hsien (陳崇憲) said. While the LNG market does not have a global reserve for emergencies like that of oil, the concept has been raised a few times —
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday received government approval to deploy its advanced 3-nanometer (3nm) process at its second fab currently under construction in Japan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a news release. The ministry green-lit the plan for the facility in Kumamoto, which is scheduled to start installing equipment and come online in 2028 with a monthly production capacity of 15,000 12-inch wafers, the ministry said. The Department of Investment Review in June 2024 authorized a US$5.26 billion investment for the facility, slated to manufacture 6- to 12nm chips, significantly less advanced than 3nm process. At a meeting with
RSS