GPU Prices Are Surging\u20143 Ways to Play the AI Chip Shortage<\/a><\/p>\nFor the second quarter, ASML guided to total net sales of EUR 8.4 billion to EUR 9.0 billion, with installed base management sales \u201caround EUR 2.5 billion,\u201d Dassen said. Gross margin is expected to be 51% to 52%, with R&D of around EUR 1.2 billion and SG&A of around EUR 0.3 billion.<\/p>\n
CEO Christophe Fouquet said the expected sequential margin step-down is largely tied to installed base mix and ramp-related costs. He noted that Q1 included \u201cvery high-margin elements in the upgrade business\u201d that ASML is \u201cnot counting on\u201d repeating at the same strength in Q2. He also pointed to costs related to hiring and training as ASML increases its \u201cmove rate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fouquet said the semiconductor industry growth outlook is \u201csolidifying,\u201d driven by AI-related infrastructure investment that is \u201cincreasing demand for advanced logic and memory chips.\u201d For the \u201cforeseeable future,\u201d he said, demand is expected to outpace supply, creating constraints \u201cacross end markets from AI to mobile and PCs,\u201d and prompting customers to \u201caggressively add capacity.\u201d<\/p>\n
In memory, Fouquet said \u201cmany customers have confirmed that they are sold out for the remaining of the year,\u201d and expect supply limitations to persist \u201cbeyond 2026\u201d despite capacity expansion plans. In logic, he said customers are adding capacity across advanced nodes while continuing to ramp 2-nanometer, and also expect supply limitations beyond 2026.<\/p>\n
Against that backdrop, ASML updated its full-year 2026 outlook. Fouquet said the company is \u201cnarrowing and increasing\u201d expected revenue to EUR 36 billion to EUR 40 billion, while maintaining gross margin guidance of 51% to 53%. He reiterated that revenue is expected to be weighted to the second half of the year.<\/p>\n
Fouquet said EUV revenue is expected to rise significantly in 2026. He added that while ASML previously expected non-EUV revenue to be similar to last year, it now expects non-EUV growth \u201cas a result of customer adding more Deep UV lithography to support their expansion plans.\u201d Installed base management revenue is also expected to \u201cgrow significantly,\u201d driven by service revenue from the expanding EUV installed base and demand for performance upgrades.<\/p>\n
Management also said the 2026 guidance range is intended to \u201caccommodate potential outcomes of ongoing discussions around export control,\u201d according to Fouquet.<\/p>\n
Fouquet said ASML is executing an output plan of at least 60 Low-NA EUV systems in 2026. He added that, despite what he described as a \u201cslow start\u201d previously discussed, the company is working to drive immersion system output \u201cclose to\u201d 2025 levels. Based on demand and order intake, he said ASML is \u201cquarter-by-quarter increasing the move rates for our HBM product,\u201d raising Low-NA EUV capacity to at least 80 systems next year and scaling DUV and application products accordingly.<\/p>\n
In response to questions about the geographic mix of the raised outlook, Dassen said the increased immersion expectation is \u201cprimarily non-China,\u201d adding that the company\u2019s China view remains unchanged with China \u201cat the midpoint around 20%.\u201d He said ASML now believes it can get immersion output \u201cclose to the levels that we had last year,\u201d which would \u201cprimarily flow to the non-Chinese customers.\u201d<\/p>\n
On whether 2027 demand could exceed the \u201cat least 80\u201d Low-NA EUV capacity target, Fouquet said discussions with customers are ongoing and the number reflects \u201cvery close discussion with our customers.\u201d Dassen later described \u201cat least\u201d as the current customer alignment factoring in customers\u2019 view of the market, fab-building progress, and ASML\u2019s approach to supplying capacity through multiple levers beyond unit volumes.<\/p>\n
Fouquet also addressed cleanroom readiness, saying ASML saw cleanroom capacity as \u201cone of the factor[s], if not the key factor,\u201d influencing what could be done this year, but added that 2026 plans are \u201csolidifying,\u201d with more clarity on \u201cthe number of pedestal[s] that will be available when.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fouquet highlighted technology developments discussed at the SPIE Advanced Lithography and Patterning Conference in February, including an updated Low-NA EUV productivity roadmap. He said ASML is targeting at least 330 wafers per hour on Low-NA EUV \u201cat the start of the next decade,\u201d enabled in large part by source power improvements, including a \u201crecent 1,000-watt source demonstration.\u201d<\/p>\n
Near-term, Fouquet said all NXE:3800E systems can benefit from an upgrade that increases output by 10 wafers per hour, with \u201c230 wafers per hour available immediately to all customers.\u201d He also said ASML raised the throughput specification for the NXE:3800F system to 260 wafers per hour from 250, with shipments planned to start in 2027 and full volume in 2028. In response to a question on EUV mix next year, Dassen said 2026 shipments are \u201cthe lion\u2019s share\u201d NXE:3800E, with \u201cabout 20% maybe\u201d older D systems. For 2027, he said \u201chardly, if any\u201d D systems, with the majority still E systems and a \u201cclear minority\u201d of F systems\u2014while adding that average selling prices should improve due to the mix shift.<\/p>\n
On High-NA, Fouquet said the High-NA platform has processed \u201cover half a million wafers\u201d and achieved \u201cover 80% availability.\u201d He said customer presentations showed use cases in both logic and DRAM where a single High-NA exposure could replace multi-patterning approaches requiring \u201cthree or four Low-NA exposures,\u201d and that for some critical layers, High-NA can reduce process steps \u201cby a factor of 10.\u201d Still, he cautioned that it is \u201ca bit too early\u201d to say how market tightness will affect adoption timelines, as customers are in the process of testing High-NA on product wafers.<\/p>\n
Separately, Fouquet said ASML views 3D integration as increasingly important and described activities to support customers, including its \u201cHolistic Lithography\u201d approach combining metrology and process control. He also referenced ASML\u2019s move into advanced packaging with the XC260, which he said is seeing \u201cgood traction,\u201d while noting hybrid bonding is still limited in practical use in front-end manufacturing, with \u201csome discussion for the future\u201d on how ASML could help.<\/p>\n
On capital return, Dassen said ASML paid a EUR 1.60 per share interim dividend in Q1 and intends to declare a EUR 7.50 total dividend for 2025, a 17% increase from 2024. The company also repurchased about EUR 1.1 billion of shares in Q1 2026.<\/p>\n
ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ: ASML) is a Dutch company that develops, manufactures and services advanced photolithography systems used to produce semiconductor chips. Headquartered in Veldhoven, Netherlands, ASML supplies capital equipment and associated software and services that enable semiconductor manufacturers to pattern the intricate circuits on silicon wafers. The company is widely recognized for its leadership in extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography as well as its deep ultraviolet (DUV) platforms used across multiple process nodes.<\/p>\n
ASML’s product portfolio includes EUV and DUV lithography machines, light sources, imaging optics and control software, together with spare parts, upgrades and field services.<\/p>\n
The article “ASML Q1 Earnings Call Highlights<\/a>” was originally published by MarketBeat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ASML logo ASML reported Q1 net sales of EUR 8.8 billion with a 53% gross margin and installed-base…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3030,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[65,2454,1023,644,2883],"class_list":{"0":"post-3029","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-asml","8":"tag-asml","9":"tag-christophe-fouquet","10":"tag-gross-margin","11":"tag-installed-base","12":"tag-system-sales"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3029","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3029"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3029\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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ASML logo <\/p>\n