Chip gear maker’s new bookings disappoint

ASML sees sales to China hold up and it keeps annual financial forecasts unchanged

Dutch firm ASML, the largest supplier of equipment to computer chip makers, yesterday reported weaker-than-expected first-quarter new bookings, although sales to the mainland held up despite US-led curbs on what it could export.

New bookings were valued at ¤3.6 billion (HK$30 billion), well below the ¤5.4 billion foreseen by analysts polled by Reuters.

“Although disappointing, we would not read too much into it as order intake is notoriously lumpy,” ING analyst Marc Hesselink said.

ASML kept its full-year financial forecasts unchanged, with sales seen flat from last year’s ¤27.6 billion, although it is gearing up for strong growth next year.

The company’s net income in the first quarter came to ¤1.22 billion, down from ¤2.05 billion in the fourth quarter of last year. It reported sales worth ¤5.29 billion over the three-month period, down from ¤7.24 billion in the previous quarter.

Sales of ASML’s lithography systems to customers on the mainland made up a record 49 per cent of the total in the first quarter, valued at around ¤2 billion, the company said in an investor presentation published alongside the earnings.

“Our outlook for the full year 2024 is unchanged, with the second half of the year expected to be stronger than the first half, in line with the industry’s continued recovery from the downturn,” outgoing CEO Peter Wennink said in a statement, describing 2024 as a “transition year”.

Wennink, who is retiring, will be replaced by Christophe Fouquet at the company’s annual meeting on April 24.

ASML dominates the market for lithography systems, machines that can cost hundreds of millions of euros each and use light beams to help create microscopic circuitry.

It will benefit from new chip plants planned with support from governments on the mainland as well as in Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, and the United States.

According to forecasts by industry group SEMI, the mainland is adding the most chip-making capacity this year, followed by Taiwan and South Korea.

US-led export curbs aimed at undermining Beijing’s ability to make its own advanced chips have led mainland chip makers to focus on building older generations of chips, using equipment that does not fall under export control policies.

Han Dieperink, chief investment officer at investment firm Aureus, said he was not worried about the ASML numbers, saying the company would benefit from growing demand for artificial intelligence chips and a recovery in the memory chip market.