Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown:
“ASML has delivered another statement quarter, with sales and profitability both ahead of guidance and the full-year outlook lifted by much more than the market expected. The biggest surprise came from customers upgrading and servicing equipment already on factory floors, a sign that chipmakers are pushing existing capacity while preparing for the next wave of investment. But this is more than a short-term scramble. AI demand is pulling investment forward across both advanced computing and memory chips, giving ASML clearer sight of customer demand well beyond this year.
The story has now shifted from whether demand will arrive to whether ASML can expand production fast enough to meet it. Management is responding with ambitious capacity plans, directly addressing one of the main concerns that has been rumbling in the background. That supports our view that ASML remains one of the clearest ways to gain exposure to the AI infrastructure build-out, thanks to technology that the world's leading chipmakers simply cannot replace. ASML now needs to convert a powerful order pipeline into system deliveries, revenue and profit - scaling production without losing control of costs.”
Notes to Editors
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