Toby Sterling and Nathan Wifflin
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – ASML, the world’s largest supplier of equipment to computer chip makers, reported weaker-than-expected new orders in its first-quarter earnings on Wednesday but had strong sales to China despite U.S. export curbs. .
Europe’s biggest technology company kept its full-year financial forecast unchanged, with 2024 sales unchanged from 2023 levels of 27.6 billion euros ($29.3 billion), although it is positioning itself for strong growth in 2025.
Net profit in the first quarter was 1.22 billion euros, down from 2.05 billion euros in the fourth quarter of 2023, but slightly better than expected, according to LSEG. Sales were €5.29 billion, down from €7.24 billion.
Sales of ASML (AS:) lithography systems to customers in China accounted for a record 49% of the total in the first quarter, or about 2 billion euros, the company said in an investor presentation published along with its earnings report.
New orders totaled 3.6 billion euros, well below the 5.4 billion euros forecast by analysts polled by Reuters.
“Our full-year 2024 outlook remains unchanged, with the second half expected to be stronger than the first, consistent 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 stepping down, will be replaced by Frenchman 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 which use light beams to create microscopic circuits.
It will benefit from new chip factories planned with support from the governments of Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, China and the United States.
China will add the most chip production capacity in 2024, followed by Taiwan and South Korea, according to industry group SEMI.
U.S.-led export restrictions aimed at undermining China’s ability to make its own advanced chips have led Chinese chipmakers to focus on building older generations of chips using equipment that is not subject to export control policies.
($1 = 0.9414 euros)
($1 = 0.9427 euros)