ASML Holding N.V. (ASML)

ASML reported record third-quarter 2026 total net sales of €11.7 billion on 14 October 2026, with a gross margin of 57.5 percent and net income of €5.0 billion 1.

The company expects fourth-quarter 2026 total net sales between €14.2 billion and €15.2 billion, and full-year 2026 total net sales between €44 billion and €45 billion 1.

Chief executive Christophe Fouquet said customers keep raising their demand forecasts because of AI-related investment, and that some are interested in placing orders for 2029 and even 2030 1.

He also said supply as currently planned for 2027 and 2028 will not fully meet customer demand, so the company is investigating more capacity for 2028 than the 30 percent increase it communicated before 1.

The open question is how far that capacity can grow, and whether export rules change, because the annual report says export control changes may affect sales volume, mix and timing 6.

ASML began in 1984, when Philips and Advanced Semiconductor Materials International created a new company to develop lithography systems, and it launched its first system, the PAS 2000 stepper, that year 8.

Lithography is the step that prints a chip's pattern onto a wafer, using light to transfer the pattern onto a substrate 6.

The young company came close to failing, because shareholder ASMI could not keep up its investment and the electronics industry turned down 8.

A Philips board member then persuaded colleagues to lend a final helping hand, and the money funded the PAS 5500 platform, which brought in the key customers ASML needed to turn a profit 8.

In 1995 ASML became a fully independent public company listed in Amsterdam and New York, and Philips sold half of its shares at the offering 8.

In 2001 the company introduced the TWINSCAN system, which measures one wafer while exposing another, and completed its purchase of Silicon Valley Group 8.

The first immersion machine arrived in 2003, projecting light through a layer of water between the lens and the wafer to print smaller features 8.

In 2007 it acquired BRION, which began what it calls its holistic lithography strategy of tuning the whole chip-making process before, during and after printing 8.

In 2010 it shipped its first prototype extreme ultraviolet (EUV) tool, and in 2013 it acquired Cymer, a maker of lithography light sources, to speed up EUV 8.

EUV turned the corner in 2016, when customers began ordering the production-ready NXE:3400 in batches, and the company bought Hermes Microvision, a maker of e-beam measuring tools, the same year 8.

At the start of 2020 EUV moved into high volume manufacturing, and in 2023 the company shipped its first High NA EUV system, the EXE platform 8.

Net system sales were €21,938.6 million in 2023, €21,768.7 million in 2024 and €24,474.3 million in 2025, on 600, 583 and 535 systems 6.

In 2025 total net sales rose 15.6 percent, driven by a 12.4 percent rise in net system sales and a 26.2 percent rise in net service and field option sales 6.

In Logic chips net sales rose €2.9 billion on foundry growth for AI demand, while in Memory they fell €0.2 billion after strong growth in 2024 6.

For the full year 2025 total net sales were €32.7 billion, gross margin was 52.8 percent and net income was €9.6 billion 5.

The company ended 2025 with a backlog of €38.8 billion and returned €8.5 billion to shareholders during the year 56.

In 2025 it also invested €1.3 billion in Mistral AI as lead investor 6.

Guidance for 2026 climbed: the company expected total net sales of €34 billion to €39 billion in January 5, €36 billion to €40 billion in April 4, and €43 billion to €45 billion in July 3.

Quarterly total net sales in 2026 were €8,767 million, €9,326 million and €11,662 million for the first, second and third quarters 2.

What ASML makes

ASML builds the machines that print the patterns of microchips onto silicon wafers, and it is currently the world's only maker of EUV lithography systems 6.

Its systems are a mix of hardware and software, and the company sells measuring and inspection tools beside them so a chipmaker can tune every print 6.

In 2025 the NXE line of EUV systems brought €10,445.8 million from 44 systems, ArF immersion systems €10,311.4 million from 131, and service and field options €8.2 billion 65.

EUV: the NXE and EXE platforms

EUV light has a shorter wavelength than earlier machines use, so chipmakers can print the smallest features with one exposure per layer instead of several 86.

The NXE platform was first introduced in 2013, and the NXE:3800E now ships at full specification with 220 wafers per hour, a 37 percent improvement on the NXE:3600D 6.

The EXE platform is the High NA (higher numerical aperture) generation: it brought €1,156.9 million from four systems in 2025, and the company expects it to support high-volume manufacturing in 2027 6.

The first EXE:5200B shipped in early April 2025 at 175 wafers per hour, which the company says is 60 percent more than the EXE:5000 6.

On 14 October 2026 ASML and TSMC announced an initiative on 12-inch photomasks for High NA EUV, which the presentation says enables more than 40 percent higher productivity for a dual mask exposure 2.

DUV: the workhorse machines

Deep ultraviolet (DUV) systems are the workhorses of the industry, producing the majority of layers in microchips 6.

ArF immersion systems keep a thin layer of water between the lens and the wafer, and they earned €10,311.4 million from 131 systems in 2025, against €9,667.0 million from 129 in 2024 6.

KrF systems brought €1,001.3 million from 78 systems in 2025 against €1,991.2 million from 152 in 2024, while ArF dry brought €427.0 million from 16 and i-line €307.3 million from 54 6.

In 2025 the company shipped the TWINSCAN XT:260, an i-line system and its first advanced packaging product, which it says offers up to four times higher productivity than existing solutions 86.

Measuring and inspection

Metrology and inspection systems measure printed patterns on wafers to check they match the design, and they brought €824.6 million from 208 systems in 2025 6.

The HMI eScan1100 is the company's first multibeam inspection system, with 25 beams and 10 times higher throughput than single-beam systems 6.

On 14 October 2026 the company's presentation listed the YieldStar 550 overlay metrology system as shipped 2.

Service and upgrades

Installed Base Management is the company's name for service and field options, and it brought €8.2 billion in 2025, up 26.2 percent 56.

In the third quarter of 2026 these sales were €3.3 billion, above guidance, on strong demand for productivity upgrades 1.

The company says approximately 95 percent of the systems it sold in the last 30 years are still in use 6.

Customers and where the machines go

In 2025 the largest customer bought €7,796.7 million, or 23.9 percent of total net sales, and the two largest together took 38.0 percent 6.

By destination, China took €9,519.7 million of 2025 net sales against €10,195.1 million in 2024, while Taiwan rose to €8,337.9 million from €4,354.0 million and South Korea to €8,159.6 million from €6,408.8 million 6.

The United States took €4,089.1 million in 2025 against €4,521.8 million in 2024 6.

Logic chipmakers took €16,054.1 million of 2025 net system sales and memory chipmakers €8,420.2 million 6.

People and places

Christophe Fouquet became president and chief executive in 2024, and has been on the Board of Management since 2018 6.

Roger Dassen, the chief financial officer, joined in June 2018 6.

The Supervisory Board said it intended to appoint Marco Pieters, the chief technology officer, to the Board of Management at the 2026 annual meeting 6.

The company had more than 45,500 full-time-equivalent employees on 14 October 2026, with offices across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the United States and Asia 1.

On 28 January 2026 it said it would streamline its Technology and IT organizations to focus on engineering and innovation 5.

Rivals, suppliers and export rules

In DUV systems the company competes mainly with Canon and Nikon 6.

Carl Zeiss SMT is its sole supplier of lenses, mirrors and other optics under an exclusive arrangement, and the filing says losing that supply would effectively end the business 6.

The annual report lists several export rule changes: the Netherlands widened its list on 15 January 2025, and the European Union put Dutch controls into its own list in November 2025 6.

The US Affiliates Rule and China's rare earth export limits are both suspended until 10 November 2026 under a trade agreement 6.

In April 2026 the company said its guidance range allows for possible outcomes of the continuing export control talks 4.

The umbrella, in words

ASML sells under one brand, ASML, and its main subsidiaries are listed in its annual report exhibit as all directly or indirectly wholly owned 7.

Cymer is a named subsidiary in the United States and the Netherlands, and the company says it runs as an independent business making DUV light sources 78.

Hermes Microvision, joined in 2016, supplies the e-beam inspection tools, and ASML Berlin GmbH carries the former Berliner Glas name, bought in 2020 78.

The company owns 24.9 percent of Carl Zeiss SMT Holding and 31.97 percent of HighTechXL Group, both through wholly owned subsidiaries 7.

It invested €1.3 billion in Mistral AI in 2025 as lead investor, for about 11 percent on a fully diluted basis 6.

Its headquarters are at De Run in Veldhoven, the Netherlands, and the annual report names a plan to break ground in 2026 on a new Eindhoven campus 86.

San Diego is the company's lithography light source center of excellence, run by Cymer 6.

BlackRock reported 26,325,103 shares, or 6.83 percent, in a Schedule 13G/A of 23 April 2025, and Capital Research reported 19,612,223 shares, or 5.09 percent, to the Dutch regulator on 12 June 2025 6.

A foundation has an option to acquire cumulative preference shares when a bid or a shareholder's vote conflicts with ASML's interests, which can act as a defence 6.

For the fourth quarter of 2026 the company expects total net sales of €14.2 billion to €15.2 billion, gross margin around 57 percent, research costs around €1.2 billion and sales costs around €0.4 billion 1.

For the full year 2026 it expects total net sales between €44 billion and €45 billion, a gross margin around 56 percent and an effective tax rate around 17 percent 12.

It expects Installed Base Management sales of around €3.7 billion in the fourth quarter 2.

An interim dividend of €1.88 per ordinary share is payable on 4 November 2026 1.

The 2026 to 2028 share buyback program is up to €12 billion and runs to 31 December 2028, and around €4.1 billion of shares were bought in the third quarter of 2026 51.

In July 2026 the company said it plans to add 30 percent to its 2026 low NA EUV capacity of around 65 for 2027, and to its DUV immersion capacity of around 130 3.

On 14 October 2026 it said it is investigating ways to add capacity for 2028 beyond the 30 percent previously communicated 1.

The company plans to update its longer-term views at its next Capital Markets Day on 10 June 2027 3.

Its 2024 Investor Day scenarios for 2030 ranged from total sales of €44 billion in the low case to €60 billion in the high case, as restated in the annual report 6.

On products, the company expects the EXE platform to support high-volume manufacturing in 2027, and phase 1 of the YieldStar 550 is scheduled for release in 2026 6.

It planned to break ground on its new Eindhoven campus in 2026 6.

The US and Chinese export suspensions are due to run out on 10 November 2026, a date the annual report names 6.