The company that makes the machines behind advanced chips just posted its biggest quarter yet. ASML reported record third-quarter net sales of 11.7 billion euros and net income of 5.0 billion euros, with a gross margin of 57.5 per cent, ahead of its own guidance.
Chief executive Christophe Fouquet said customers are raising their short- and medium-term demand forecasts on the back of AI-related investment, with some already showing interest in orders for 2029 and even 2030. Installed-base sales, driven by productivity upgrades to machines already in factories, reached 3.3 billion euros.
The constraint is now supply, not demand. ASML warned that its planned output for 2027 and 2028 will not fully meet what customers want, and said it is investigating capacity increases beyond the roughly 30 per cent expansion previously communicated for 2028.
For the fourth quarter, ASML guided to sales of 14.2 to 15.2 billion euros at a margin near 57 per cent, and raised full-year 2026 sales guidance to 44 to 45 billion euros. It also reported about 4.1 billion euros of share buybacks in the quarter and an interim dividend of 1.88 euros per share payable November 4.
