ASML posts a record €11.7 billion quarter and says it can't build machines fast enough

ASML, based in Veldhoven in the Netherlands, makes lithography machines. These are the tools chipmakers use to print circuit patterns onto silicon wafers.

Think of it as a projector that draws a city map onto a fingernail, then does it again billions of times without a smudge.

ASML is the only company that makes EUV (extreme ultraviolet) machines. They use very short wavelengths of light to print the tiniest patterns, the kind found in the most advanced chips. It also sells older DUV (deep ultraviolet) machines and a big business in upgrades and service.

• Customers: chipmakers such as TSMC, Samsung and Intel, GuruFocus notes.
• Employees: more than 45,500 full-time equivalents, up from more than 44,500 in July.
• Listings: Euronext Amsterdam and NASDAQ, under the symbol ASML.

ASML's sales jumped from the second quarter, and profit grew even faster. Here's how the third quarter compares, using ASML's own figures.

By the numbers: A year earlier, in the third quarter of 2025, ASML reported €7.5 billion in sales and €2.1 billion in net income. GuruFocus calculates that sales grew 55.1% year over year. Net income more than doubled.

ASML had forecast third-quarter sales of €11.0 billion to €12.0 billion. CEO Christophe Fouquet said the result landed "towards the high end of our guidance."

The gross margin of 57.5% beat ASML's forecast of 55% to 57%. Fouquet credited the service and upgrade business, which ASML calls Installed Base Management. It brought in €3.3 billion, above guidance, up from €2.8 billion in the second quarter.

The picture was mixed. GuruFocus reports that sales came in about €70 million below the analyst consensus. Earnings per share beat estimates by €2.14.

The forecast for the next quarter is what stands out. ASML expects fourth-quarter sales of €14.2 billion to €15.2 billion, with a gross margin around 57%. GuruFocus says that range is above what analysts expected.

It also expects research and development costs of around €1.2 billion and sales and admin costs of around €0.4 billion in the fourth quarter.

Each quarter of 2026 has been bigger than the one before it, and the machine count shows it.

• Q1 2026: €8.8 billion in sales, €2.8 billion in net income, 67 new machines sold.
• Q2 2026: €9.3 billion in sales, €2.9 billion in net income, 86 new machines sold.
• Q3 2026: €11.7 billion in sales, €5.0 billion in net income, 113 new machines sold.

Add up the first three quarters and you get about €29.8 billion. The full-year forecast implies a fourth quarter bigger than any of them.

Back in April, Fouquet already described the market in plain terms: "Demand for chips is outpacing supply." He said chipmakers were speeding up their expansion plans for 2026 and beyond, backed by long-term agreements with their own customers.

ASML now expects full-year 2026 sales of €44 billion to €45 billion, with a gross margin around 56%. It's the third time this year the outlook has moved up.

• April 2026: €36 billion to €40 billion, gross margin 51% to 53%.
• July 2026: €43 billion to €45 billion, gross margin 54% to 56%.
• October 2026: €44 billion to €45 billion, gross margin around 56%.

The October change lifts the bottom of the range. The top stays at €45 billion.

This is the part that matters most. Fouquet said customers "continue to increase their short- and medium-term equipment demand forecasts," mainly because of how big and how long they expect AI investment to be.

ASML now expects that its supply as currently planned for both 2027 and 2028 will not fully meet the demand of its customers.

Some customers are going even further. Fouquet said they are "expressing an interest in placing orders with us for 2029 and even 2030."

"With such strong visibility and an order book momentum that continues to increase quarter on quarter this year, we now expect that our supply as currently planned for both 2027 and 2028 will not fully meet the demand of our customers."

The big picture: In July, ASML said it planned to raise its 2026 capacity of around 65 low NA EUV machines by 30% for 2027. It planned the same 30% jump for DUV immersion machines, from around 130. It was also studying another 30% for both in 2028.

Now it says it is investigating ways to raise 2028 capacity beyond that 30%. It also points to its upgrade portfolio, which lets chipmakers get more output from machines they already own.

ASML is returning a lot of cash to shareholders. It bought back around €4.1 billion of its own shares in the third quarter under its 2026 to 2028 buyback program. That's up from around €1.1 billion in the second quarter.

• Dividend: an interim dividend of €1.88 per ordinary share, payable on November 4, 2026.
• Cash: €12.7 billion in cash and short-term investments at the end of the quarter, up from €7.6 billion.

For 2025 as a whole, ASML said in April it would pay a total dividend of €7.50 per share, 17% more than for 2024.

Fouquet and CFO Roger Dassen are hosting an investor call on Wednesday at 15:00 Central European Time. ASML will also update its long-term outlook at a Capital Markets Day on June 10, 2027.

China remains a sensitive part of ASML's business because of export controls. The third-quarter release doesn't give a new China figure. In April, Fouquet said the width of ASML's 2026 forecast range was meant to cover possible outcomes of "ongoing discussions around export controls."

In July, GuruFocus reported that ASML still expected China to make up roughly one-fifth of its 2026 revenue despite those limits. We covered how China stocked up on ASML's DUV machines earlier.

In real life When a company like Nvidia designs a new AI chip, a chipmaker like TSMC has to print it. The most advanced AI chips are printed with ASML machines. If those machines are sold out years ahead, the number of new AI chips the world can make each year has a ceiling.

• AI keeps growing: The companies building chips expect AI demand to last years, not months. They're placing orders that far ahead.
• Chip supply stays tight: If ASML can't ship enough machines in 2027 and 2028, chipmakers can't add factories as fast as they want. That can affect how fast new AI services and devices arrive.
• Nothing changes today: ASML sells to chipmakers, not to you. Your phone and laptop prices won't move because of one quarter.