Phoenix 24
Europe’s technology champion sits at the center of AI.
Veldhoven | July 2026
ASML has sharply raised its annual sales forecast after stronger-than-expected quarterly results demonstrated that global investment in artificial intelligence continues to increase demand for advanced semiconductors. The Dutch company, currently Europe’s largest by market capitalization, occupies a uniquely powerful position because the most sophisticated chips cannot be manufactured at scale without its lithography systems.
The company now expects net sales of between €43 billion and €45 billion in 2026, considerably above its previous projection of €36 billion to €40 billion. It also raised its expected gross margin to between 54 and 56 percent, compared with the earlier range of 51 to 53 percent.
The revision signals that semiconductor manufacturers are accelerating investment despite concerns that enthusiasm surrounding artificial intelligence could be producing excessive valuations or unsustainable spending. ASML’s order pipeline indicates that its customers are still preparing for greater computing requirements rather than reducing capacity plans.
During the second quarter, covering April through June, ASML recorded net sales of €9.3 billion. That exceeded market expectations and represented a substantial increase from the €7.7 billion reported during the same period one year earlier.
Quarterly net profit rose to approximately €2.9 billion, compared with €2.3 billion a year before. The company achieved a gross margin of 54 percent, reinforcing expectations that demand for its most advanced equipment remains strong even as it invests in expanding production.
ASML expects third-quarter net sales of between €11 billion and €12 billion. Investors responded positively to the results, sending the company’s shares more than five percent higher as markets interpreted the forecast as evidence that the AI infrastructure cycle retains momentum.
Chief executive Christophe Fouquet said continued investment in artificial intelligence and advances in AI technologies are increasing demand for sophisticated logic and memory chips. Those semiconductors are required to train large computational models, operate data centers and process the enormous quantities of information generated by AI systems.
Logic chips perform the calculations powering processors and accelerators, while memory chips store and transfer the data those processors require. Artificial intelligence workloads depend heavily on both. More capable models need greater computing density, faster memory and increasingly advanced manufacturing processes.
ASML does not design the processors used by artificial intelligence companies. It builds the highly complex equipment that semiconductor manufacturers need to place microscopic patterns onto silicon wafers. Its customers include the major foundries and chipmakers competing to supply the next generation of processors.
The company is the world’s only producer of extreme ultraviolet lithography machines, commonly known as EUV systems. These machines use extremely short-wavelength light to print the tiny structures required for the most advanced semiconductors.
An EUV system contains thousands of specialized components, advanced optics, lasers and precision mechanisms. Its production requires a supply network extending across multiple countries and disciplines, making the technology exceptionally difficult to reproduce.
That technological position gives ASML influence far beyond the Netherlands. Smartphones, vehicles, medical systems, telecommunications networks, weapons platforms and artificial intelligence infrastructure all depend on semiconductors manufactured with equipment supplied by the company.
ASML has consequently become an important indicator for the wider technology sector. When manufacturers place more lithography orders, they are effectively preparing for future chip demand. A strong order book can therefore reveal investment expectations before new semiconductor factories reach full production.
Fouquet said the company’s backlog remained extremely strong during the first half of the year. Customers are accelerating their capacity-expansion plans, giving ASML greater visibility over demand extending beyond the immediate quarter.
The company plans to increase its manufacturing capacity by approximately 30 percent in 2027. The expansion will cover both advanced EUV machines and older deep ultraviolet systems, known as DUV equipment.
DUV technology remains essential even in the production of advanced chips because semiconductor factories use different lithography systems across multiple manufacturing stages. It is also widely employed for mature chips used in vehicles, industrial machinery, consumer electronics and communications equipment.
ASML is considering another production-capacity increase of approximately 30 percent in 2028. It is simultaneously expanding its machine-upgrade and servicing operations, which generate recurring revenue after the original equipment has been installed.
The expansion demonstrates that the company expects AI-related semiconductor investment to remain structural rather than temporary. Data-center operators, technology companies and national governments are committing enormous resources to computing infrastructure, power systems and specialized chip production.
The results also provide reassurance after periods of volatility across technology markets. Investors have questioned whether spending on artificial intelligence could slow before companies generate sufficient revenue from the technology. ASML’s revised forecast suggests that semiconductor manufacturers still see significant long-term demand.
Strong equipment orders do not eliminate the possibility of a correction. Semiconductor manufacturing is cyclical, capital-intensive and vulnerable to changes in consumer demand. Factories can take years to complete, and excessive capacity may eventually place pressure on prices.
Artificial intelligence has nevertheless altered the scale of expected computing requirements. Training and operating advanced models requires large clusters of processors working continuously. Every increase in model complexity can create additional demand for processing power, memory, networking equipment and energy.
ASML benefits because improving chip performance increasingly depends on manufacturing smaller and more precise components. As technical complexity rises, semiconductor producers require more capable lithography equipment and increasingly sophisticated process control.
The company’s growth, however, is inseparable from geopolitical tensions. ASML has become one of the most strategically sensitive companies in the technological confrontation between the United States and China.
Washington has pressured the Netherlands to restrict exports of advanced chipmaking equipment to China, arguing that sophisticated semiconductors could strengthen Chinese military, surveillance and artificial intelligence capabilities. The restrictions affect which ASML systems can be sold and serviced inside the Chinese market.
ASML had previously warned that its sales in China would decline significantly during 2026. Chief financial officer Roger Dassen now expects the country to account for approximately 20 percent of annual revenue.
China has criticized Western export restrictions as an attempt to contain its technological development. Beijing is investing heavily in domestic semiconductor production, but replacing ASML’s most advanced lithography technology remains one of the greatest obstacles facing the Chinese chip industry.
The restrictions create a complicated commercial environment for the Dutch company. China remains an important customer, while the United States is a central security partner for the Netherlands and a major market for advanced semiconductor manufacturing.
ASML must therefore comply with government export controls while continuing to serve customers across a globalized supply chain. Changes in licensing rules can influence revenue, production planning and the geographical distribution of chipmaking capacity.
The company is also managing internal restructuring. In January, it announced organizational changes expected to affect approximately 1,700 positions in the Netherlands and the United States, primarily in management. ASML employs around 44,000 people worldwide.
Those reductions contrast with the planned expansion of manufacturing capacity, suggesting that the company is attempting to simplify its organizational structure while directing more resources toward production and engineering. Rapid growth can create layers of administration that management later seeks to consolidate.
ASML’s stronger outlook confirms that the artificial intelligence race is no longer confined to software developers. It is producing industrial consequences across semiconductor factories, equipment manufacturers, electricity networks and global supply chains.
The company’s importance rests on scarcity. Multiple companies can design advanced processors, but only one currently supplies the EUV machines needed to manufacture them at the technological frontier. That concentration makes ASML commercially valuable and geopolitically indispensable.
Artificial intelligence companies may dominate public attention, but the systems they build depend on physical infrastructure manufactured through extraordinarily complex industrial processes. Behind every advanced model stands a chain of machines, materials, engineers and semiconductor plants.
ASML occupies one of the narrowest and most consequential points in that chain. Its raised forecast suggests that the AI boom is still moving from digital ambition into physical investment, and Europe’s largest company has become one of the principal gateways through which that transformation must pass.
La inteligencia digital también depende del poder industrial. / Digital intelligence also depends on industrial power.