ASML holds NV’s first-quarter orders reported almost 1 billion euros less than expected, warning that it does not know how to quantify the impact of tariff announcements that could disrupt the semiconductor industry recently.
The Dutch Company calculated Taiwan’s semiconductor manufacturing company and Intel Corp. among its largest customers, with reported bookings of 3.94 billion euros. According to data compiled by Bloomberg, analysts expect an average of €4.82 billion. ASML said order intake is a “clumsy” indicator and does not properly reflect its business momentum.
ASML’s shares fell 5.1% to €574.60 on Wednesday at 11:15 am in Amsterdam, after shares fell 7.6% earlier due to widespread selloffs of chip stocks. ASML stock has fallen by about 37% over the past 12 months.
“Recent tariff announcements have added uncertainty over the macro environment and the situation will remain dynamic for some time,” ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet said in a statement Wednesday.
ASML is the only manufacturer of cutting-edge lithography machines used by semiconductor companies to make advanced chips for smartphones including Apple Inc. and Nvidia Corp.’s artificial intelligence accelerators.
The company benefits from the AI boom that has enabled tech giants to invest billions in chips and data centers to power emerging technologies. This brings ASML’s estimated revenue to be between 44 billion and 60 billion euros in 2030. But concerns about a potential slowdown in demand for AI have been compounded by the prospect of complicating U.S. tariffs, as some chipmakers and analysts warn of disappointing warnings.
ASML outlines the various ways U.S. tariffs may affect business, including additional costs for goods imported into the country’s new systems, tools and parts. Another possible risk is that other countries “impose tariffs on things shipped from the U.S. to those countries,” Chief Financial Officer Roger Dassen said in the video of the results.
The company said it has no plans to shift more production to the U.S. to limit exposure to potential tariffs.
“We are already a big player in the United States and we have built our presence in the position of capability,” Dasen said in a call with reporters. “Most of the rallies that we have taken place here in the Netherlands” because that’s where capability and many supply chains are located. “That’s our plan,” he said.
Dusen added that it would be appropriate to pass on the “next layer in the value chain” of the “significant parts” that are levied on ASML to the “customers who buy their chip manufacturing machines”. He said the tariff burden should be distributed fairly, meaning those importing into the United States will bear the “liu share.”
ASML’s first-quarter results were two weeks after Trump announced tariffs on all U.S. exporters, which sparked fears of a downturn in stock sell-offs, slashing consumer demand and uncertainty about trade escalation. Analysts warn that the move will affect CHIP demand and, in turn, impact investment plans for ASML clients.
Last week, the Trump administration exempted certain products, such as smartphones, computers and machines, to make semiconductors from its so-called mutual tariffs. It excludes these products from China’s 125% tariffs, and the president’s benchmark global tariffs on nearly all other countries are 10%.
But on Monday, the Commerce Department said it had begun investigating the impact on U.S. national security, namely “imported semiconductors and semiconductor manufacturing equipment,” as a pioneer in imposing tariffs.
The company’s extreme UV or EUV machines had net bookings of 1.2 billion euros in the quarter.
China accounts for 27% of ASML’s net system sales, making it the second largest market for the quarter. While this is the same as in the previous three months, it is down from the 2024 average of 41%.
The U.S. government bans exports of advanced semiconductor technologies to China in order to curb the development of Beijing’s domestic chip industry and its AI and military capabilities. Due to the US-led curb, ASML was never allowed to sell its EUV machines to China, and the Dutch government also restricted the export of a second full-time machine – an immersive deep ultraviolet lithography system or DUV.
Despite the increasing number of restrictions, ASML benefited from strong demand in China last year, as chipmakers there bought older kits that used to make more mature semiconductor types.
“Demand in China remains strong,” Dasen said. The company now expects Asian countries to account for more than 25% of net system sales this year.
The plunge in chip stocks became wider after Donald Trump banned NVIDIA from selling its H20 chips to China on Tuesday to thwart Beijing’s supercomputing power, the company said in a filing. NVIDIA’s stock was about 6% in late trading, resulting in a wide sell-off in Asian semiconductor stocks.
Fouquet said in a statement that the company’s “to date” “dialogue” with its customers supports its expectations for 2025 and 2026 that will be a year of growth driven by AI investment.
ASML predicts that if AI demand continues to remain strong and its customers are able to increase capacity, it will have the opportunity to meet the cap of its 2025 total net sales guide, between 30 billion and 35 billion euros. But it says some of the uncertainty of customers may take it to the lower end of the range.
Citi analyst Andrew Gardiner said in a note that the first quarter order was “disappointed” and that tariff uncertainty was clearly “blacked” view, but Andrew Gardiner said in a note, noting ASML’s reaffirmed full-year forecast and expectations for further growth in 2026.
Barclays analyst Simon Coles said that over the next three to five quarters, ASML will need 3 billion to 5 billion euros to reach consensus expectations. “It seems manageable, but we’re worried that two major customers will soon be unlikely to order largely at any time,” he said.
This article was generated from the Automation News Agency feed without the text being modified.
