ASML, Europe’s most valuable listed company, has lifted its full-year sales guidance on the back of surging demand tied to artificial intelligence, reigniting optimism about the durability of the AI-driven technology cycle. The Dutch semiconductor equipment maker now expects 2026 net sales of between €43 billion and €45 billion, up from its earlier projection of €36 billion to €40 billion. The revised forecast sent the company’s shares climbing more than 5%.
The upgrade followed second-quarter results that came in ahead of market expectations. Between April and June, the Veldhoven-based firm posted net sales of €9.3 billion, well above the €7.7 billion recorded in the same quarter a year earlier. Net profit reached €2.9 billion, compared with €2.3 billion in the prior-year period, while the gross margin stood at 54%. For the full year, ASML now anticipates a gross margin of 54% to 56%, an improvement on its previous 51% to 53% range.
ASML occupies a pivotal position in the global technology supply chain, as it is the sole manufacturer of the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography systems required to build the world’s most advanced chips. Because semiconductors underpin products ranging from consumer electronics to defence hardware, the company is widely treated as a barometer for the health of the broader tech industry.
Chief Executive Christophe Fouquet attributed the momentum to continued investment in AI and advances in the technology itself, which are fuelling appetite for cutting-edge logic and memory chips. He noted that order intake stayed exceptionally robust through the first half of the year, with customers pressing ahead with plans to expand capacity and giving ASML clearer sight of demand further out.
The strong results landed at a moment of heightened investor sensitivity, following several steep pullbacks in tech stocks amid worries that enthusiasm around AI could be overheating. Analyst Ben Barringer of Quilter Cheviot said the figures underscored the strength of underlying demand across the semiconductor sector, pointing to solid growth in both memory and logic chips, with memory currently expanding at the faster pace.
To keep up, ASML plans to boost production capacity by roughly 30% next year across both its advanced EUV machines and its older deep ultraviolet (DUV) systems, and is weighing a further 30% expansion in 2028 alongside growth in its machine upgrade business. The company expects third-quarter net sales of between €11 billion and €12 billion.
ASML continues to navigate tensions stemming from US-China trade restrictions on advanced technology. Chief Financial Officer Roger Dassen said China is expected to account for around 20% of sales in 2026, adding that the Chinese market is broadly tracking global trends. Washington has been tightening curbs on high-tech exports to China over concerns they could strengthen the country’s military, measures Beijing has condemned. The company employs about 44,000 people worldwide.
