ASML Announces Expansion of EUV and DUV Production Capacity Until 2028 Due to Increasing AI Demand

Driven by the continued surge in semiconductor investments fueled by AI, ASML, the global leader in lithography equipment, released its 2026 second-quarter financial report on the 15th. Not only did its revenue and gross margin exceed the company's initial forecast, but it also unveiled plans for future capacity expansion. ASML announced that due to the sustained growth in demand for advanced logic and memory chips driven by AI, it will simultaneously expand the production capacity of Low NA EUV and immersion DUV lithography equipment by 30% by 2027, and assess the possibility of further increasing capacity by 30% by 2028, indicating the company's optimism that AI chip demand will continue beyond 2028. ASML's second-quarter net sales reached 9.326 billion euros, up approximately 6.4% from the previous quarter's 8.767 billion euros; the gross margin improved from 53% to 54%, with net income of 2.918 billion euros and earnings per share (EPS) of 7.59 euros. In the second quarter, 86 new lithography equipment units were sold, higher than the 67 units in the first quarter. Revenue from Installed Base Management (cumulative equipment management) business also increased from 2.488 billion euros to 2.762 billion euros, driving overall profitability to exceed initial expectations. ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet stated, "Our total net sales for the second quarter reached 9.3 billion euros, with a gross margin of 54%, both higher than guided, mainly due to sales and cumulative equipment management revenue exceeding expectations." AI demand boosts equipment investment ASML announces simultaneous expansion of EUV and DUV Compared to financial figures, the market is more concerned about ASML's judgment on future equipment demand. Christophe Fouquet pointed out that continuous investment and technological development related to AI are driving the growth of demand for advanced logic and storage chips, further strengthening the long-term growth prospects of the semiconductor industry. As customers continue to accelerate capacity expansion, related investment plans have gradually been transformed into equipment orders, allowing the company to have higher visibility into future market demand. He stated that due to the still very strong market orders in the first half of this year, ASML plans to increase the annual production capacity of approximately 65 units of Low NA EUV lithography equipment in 2026 by 30% in 2027, and further assess the possibility of increasing capacity by another 30% in 2028. At the same time, the production capacity of approximately 130 units of immersion DUV lithography equipment in 2026 will also be simultaneously increased by 30% in 2027, and the feasibility of further expansion in 2028 will be studied. In addition, the company will continue to expand the product and service combination of equipment upgrades to meet customers' subsequent needs. This plan also reflects ASML's long-term confidence in AI infrastructure investment. The market generally believes that global wafer foundries and memory giants are continuously expanding advanced process and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) capacity, and ASML, as the world's only EUV lithography equipment supplier, its production plans have always been regarded as an important leading indicator for observing global semiconductor capital expenditure and economic conditions. This time, the simultaneous planning of EUV and DUV equipment expansion also means that advanced processes and mature processes will simultaneously benefit from the AI wave. Looking ahead to the third quarter, ASML estimates that net sales for the third quarter will be between 11 billion and 12 billion euros, with a gross margin expected to rise to 55% to 57%; R&D expenditure of approximately 1.2 billion euros, and sales and administrative expenses (SG&A) of approximately 400 million euros. The full-year forecast remains unchanged, with the company estimating that the full-year net sales for 2026 will be between 43 billion and 45 billion euros, with a gross margin of approximately 54% to 56%. Christophe Fouquet stated that ASML plans to hold a Capital Markets Day in June 2027, at which time it will update the company's medium- and long-term market outlook based on the latest developments in the market and technology. In addition to financial reports and production plans, ASML also announced that High NA EUV technology has officially entered a new stage of mass production. ASML pointed out that Intel Foundry has introduced ASML EXE High NA EUV equipment into part of the mass production process of the Intel Core Ultra Series 3 processor coded Panther Lake; at the same time, the specific process layers of Intel 18A have also completed dual verification of High NA EUV in Oregon, USA, with product yield reaching the level of the current NXE platform and beginning to ship to customers. Both parties will continue to deepen cooperation and promote the introduction of High NA EUV in future process nodes according to customer needs. In addition, ASML repurchased approximately 1.1 billion euros of its own shares in the second quarter according to the stock repurchase plan for 2026 to 2028, and announced that the interim dividend of 1.88 euros per common share will be paid on August 5.