A logo on the exterior of the ASML Holding NV headquarters in Veldhoven, Netherlands, on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024.
Peter Boer | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Dutch semiconductor equipment maker ASML on Wednesday reported better-than-expected net sales and profit results for the fourth quarter.
Here’s how ASML did versus LSEG consensus estimates for the fourth quarter:
- Net sales: 9.26 billion euros versus 9.07 billion euros expected.
- Net profit: 2.69 billion euros versus 2.64 billion euros expected.
ASML said that net bookings, a key indicator of order demand, came in at 7.09 billion euros.
That was up 169% from the 2.63 billion euros ASML reported in the third quarter, and exceeded the 3.99 billion euros expected by analysts polled by Visible Alpha, according to Reuters.
ASML suffered losses during a global tech sell-off earlier in the week after the rollout of Chinese startup DeepSeek’s low-cost AI language model.
The move triggered questions over eyewatering spending from the likes of leading AI players OpenAI and Microsoft on Nvidia graphics processing units, which are needed to train and run the most advanced AI models.
This could hit demand for ASML’s high-precision extreme ultraviolet (EUV) machines, which are used to print the most advanced microchips. EUV tools accounted for 3 billion euros of ASML’s fourth-quarter net bookings.
This breaking news story is being updated.