Category: Stock Market

ASML reported orders that exceeded forecasts, and 2026 sales guidance was also higher than anticipated as AI demand continues to boost the Dutch chip giant’s operations.

According to Visible Alpha, cited by Reuters, bookings, one of the most closely watched metrics from investors, came in at 13.2 billion euros ($15.8 billion) in the fourth quarter of 2025, exceeding analyst expectations of 6.32 billion euros. Roger Dassen, ASML’s finance chief, said that this quarter’s orders were a record.

Additionally, ASML announced a plan to buy back shares worth 12 billion euros by December 31, 2028.

The company stated that it anticipates net sales of between 8.2 billion and 8.9 billion euros in the current quarter and between 34 billion and 39 billion euros in total sales for 2026.

ASML does not anticipate that total net sales in 2026 will be lower than those in 2025. According to the company’s forecast, revenue growth will be at least 20%.

The AI infrastructure boom is driving several tailwinds for ASML, which produces the tools needed to make the world’s most sophisticated chips.

This year alone, ASML’s shares have increased by almost 30%. (TSMC) added to the narrative that the demand for AI chips and infrastructure will persist this month, with another record increase in profit in the fourth quarter.

The largest chipmaker in the world, TSMC, is a client of ASML and produces semiconductors for businesses like AMD and Nvidia.

In the meantime, there is a scarcity of memory semiconductors, which has led to an unheard-of increase in the component’s cost; some in the electronics sector predict that the shortage will last until 2027. According to analysts, the largest memory manufacturers, such as Samsung and SK Hynix, will buy more ASML machines to expand their chipmaking capacity in the next year or two. For instance, Barclays stated in a note this month that it anticipates SK Hynix to take 1.