ASML raises 2026 sales forecast again on booming AI chip demand

Chip-machine maker ASML raised its full-year revenue forecast for the second time this year on Wednesday, after demand tied to AI pushed its second-quarter sales and profit past expectations.

The Veldhoven-based company now expects 2026 net sales of between €43 billion and €45 billion. It also lifted its forecast for gross margin, a key measure of profitability, to between 54% and 56%.

ASML is Europe’s most valuable listed company and the only maker of the advanced lithography systems used to print the smallest features onto computer chips.

For the third quarter it expects sales of €11 billion to €12 billion, again above the roughly €10.3 billion analysts had forecast.

Export restrictions
The Dutch company remains caught in the technology standoff between the US and China. Under US-led export rules it is barred from selling its EUV machines and most advanced DUV machines to Chinese customers, though it can still sell less capable equipment there.

Even so, China accounted for 14% of system sales in the second quarter, and ASML expects Chinese customers to make up about 20% of sales over the full year. US lawmakers have proposed measures that could tighten those restrictions further.

Separately, ASML said US chipmaker Intel had begun using its newest and most expensive machine, the High NA EUV system, in production – a first for the technology. The machines cost more than €350 million each.