From Bloomberg, January 27/28:
ASML Holding NV shares soared to the highest ever after orders in the fourth quarter far exceeded analysts’ expectations and the Dutch semiconductor equipment maker announced job cuts to boost efficiency.
Bookings in the fourth quarter were a record €13.2 billion ($15.8 billion), as artificial intelligence fueled demand for its most sophisticated equipment, the Veldhoven, Netherlands-based company said in a statement on Wednesday. That compares with an average analyst estimate of €6.85 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
ASML, Europe’s most valuable company, separately announced it plans about 1,700 job cuts, mostly in the Netherlands with some in the US, as it seeks to streamline the organization. That represents about 4% of the company’s workforce.
“The last three months have brought a lot of clarity” about what AI means for the semiconductor industry, Chief Executive Officer Christophe Fouquet said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. “Our customers start to believe that this AI demand is sustainable, and therefore they are moving to building capacity, and they are moving very aggressively.”
ASML’s shares gained 6% to €1,291.20 at 12:28 p.m. in Amsterdam, extending their year-to-date gain to 40%. The stock previously gained as much as 7.5% to a record intraday high. Japanese suppliers to ASML, including Lasertec Corp., Tokyo Electron Ltd. and Screen Holdings Co., also posted big gains.
ASML is the only producer of cutting-edge lithography machines that are needed to make advanced semiconductors, and counts all the leading chip manufacturers as customers, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. and Intel Corp. Its machinery is integral to producing the Nvidia Corp. AI accelerators that are the backbone for training and running AI models in data centers. The Dutch company’s bookings are one signal of chipmakers’ confidence in future AI demand.
The AI boom has continued into 2026, defying concerns about over-investment and helping push ASML’s market value over $500 billion this month. Meta Platforms Inc. and Microsoft Corp. are among the companies that are pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into building data centers, driving chipmakers to increase capacity and in turn stoking demand for ASML’s products. TSMC said this month it anticipates capital spending of more than $52 billion in 2026, much of which will be toward advanced manufacturing techniques....
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