ASML lifts 2026 sales forecast as AI demand drives profit growth Proactive uses images sourced from Shutterstock
ASML Holding NV (NASDAQ:ASML, XETRA:ASME), Europe’s largest company by market capitalisation, has raised its full-year sales forecast and reported a sharp rise in first-quarter profits, as surging AI-related investment drives accelerating demand for its semiconductor manufacturing equipment.
Shares were little changed on Wednesday, having already gained nearly 7% in the run-up to the results and 31% since the start of the year.
The Dutch semiconductor equipment maker, whose lithography machines are essential to the production of advanced chips, posted net profits of €2.76 billion for the first quarter of 2026, up from €2.4 billion in the same period a year earlier.
Total revenue for the quarter reached €8.77 billion, which the company described as the high end of its prior guidance range, compared with €7.8 billion in the first quarter of 2025.
ASML upgraded its full-year sales forecast to between €36 billion and €40 billion, from a previous range of €34 billion to €39 billion.
Chief executive Christophe Fouquet said the semiconductor industry’s growth outlook continues to solidify, driven by AI-related infrastructure investment, and that customers are accelerating capacity expansion plans for 2026 and beyond.
The revised forecast range is designed to account for potential outcomes from ongoing export control discussions, Fouquet said.
ASML has been caught between Washington and Beijing in an escalating technology dispute, with the United States pressing to restrict exports of advanced chipmaking equipment to China over national security concerns.
China accounted for 33% of ASML’s sales in 2025, down from 41% the prior year, though it remained the company’s largest single market in both years.
ASML guided second-quarter revenue of between €8.4 billion and €9.0 billion.
In January, it announced a restructuring expected to result in around 1,700 job losses in the Netherlands and the United States, primarily affecting leadership roles.