By Hamza Faisal
ASML, the Dutch company whose machines print the world's most advanced semiconductors, reported a record third quarter on Wednesday as demand for AI chips continued to overwhelm the global chipmaking supply chain.
Net sales reached a record €11.7 billion (about $13.1 billion), while net income came in at €5 billion — more than double the €2.1 billion it earned in the same quarter a year earlier.
The results beat ASML's own guidance of €11–12 billion in quarterly sales, with gross margin expanding to 57.5 percent. The company shipped 113 new lithography systems during the quarter, up from 86 in the previous quarter.
As the world's only manufacturer of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines — the tools required to produce cutting-edge AI processors — ASML's earnings are watched as a bellwether for the entire AI hardware buildout.

Customers are now asking about 2029 and 2030

Chief executive Christophe Fouquet said customers continue to raise their short- and medium-term equipment demand forecasts, driven by their expectations for the scale and duration of AI-related investment.
In a striking sign of the industry's long horizon, he said some customers are already expressing interest in placing orders with ASML for delivery in 2029 and even 2030.
"Our customers continue to increase their short- and medium-term equipment demand forecasts with us, driven primarily by their views on the size and duration of AI-related investments," Fouquet said.
Chief financial officer Roger Dassen called it "a very, very strong quarter," adding that "a record quarter, I think, is fair to say."
The company also announced an interim dividend of €1.88 per share, payable on November 4, and said it bought back around €4.1 billion of its shares during the quarter under its 2026–2028 repurchase program.
Looking ahead, the company forecast fourth-quarter net sales of €14.2–15.2 billion (roughly $15.9–17.0 billion) with a gross margin of around 57 percent, coming in above analyst expectations of €14.19 billion in sales and a 55.4 percent margin. It also narrowed its full-year 2026 sales outlook to €44–45 billion, from a previous range of €43–45 billion.

Demand is outstripping supply through 2028

Perhaps the most telling detail in the results was ASML's admission that it cannot make machines fast enough. Fouquet said demand is currently outstripping supply and that the company is exploring ways to boost production capacity for 2028 beyond the 30 percent increase it had already announced.
That supply crunch matters because ASML's tools sit at the base of the global AI supply chain. Every advanced AI accelerator — from data-center GPUs to custom silicon — depends on chips etched with ASML's EUV systems, and the company has no direct competitor at the most advanced end of the market.
The results underscore how AI-driven procurement of high-end chips continues to strain the semiconductor supply chain even after years of capacity expansion, with the industry's order books now stretching multiple years into the future.

A record run that keeps extending

The third quarter marked ASML's ninth consecutive quarter of year-over-year revenue growth, with basic earnings per share reaching €12.95. Net income of €4.96 billion topped a consensus estimate of €4.215 billion compiled by market analysts.
The company will host an investor call on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the results in more detail, as markets digest what the record quarter signals for the broader chip sector — and for the pace of the AI buildout itself.
By Hamza Faisal