Dutch semiconductor equipment ASML on Wednesday looked to allay concerns over 2026 growth as it warned that it expects a “significant” sales decline in China.
Here’s how ASML did versus LSEG consensus estimates for the third quarter:
- Net sales: 7.516 billion euros versus 7.79 billion euros expected
- Net profit: 2.125 billion euros vs 2.11 billion euros expected
The firm said it does not expect 2026 total net sales to be below 2025 and warned that it expects customer demand and sales in China to decline significantly next year compared to 2024 and 2025.
Guidance was key for the firm after shares sank in July when it warned that it could not confirm growth in 2026 due to increasing macro-economic and geopolitical uncertainty.
ASML, which recently became the most valuable listed firm in Europe, is among the companies in the semiconductor industry which have been impacted by both domestic export restrictions in its Dutch homebase, and the U.S.’ tariff policy.
Analysts have recently been bullish on the chip giant with Morgan Stanley, UBS and Jefferies among the banks upgrading the stock. Morgan Stanley analysts said the expansion of AI chip foundries and an increase in semiconductor chip manufacturing in China were expected to drive growth. Meanwhile, ahead of the earnings release, UBS pointed to better-than-expected smartphone and PC sales and AI-led memory growth.
ASML is also expected to benefit from Nvidia and Intel’s $5 billion deal as semiconductor equipment demand increases.
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