ASML's CEO Christophe Fouquet highlighted the solid order intake in the first half, saying customer demand driven by AI for advanced logic and memory chips is accelerating capacity plans. The semiconductor equipment maker reported second-quarter net sales of €9.326 billion, a 21.2% increase year-over-year, surpassing both company guidance of €8.4 €9.0 billion and analyst estimates of €8.80 billion. EPS for the quarter on the U.S. listing reached $8.68 per ADR, roughly 9.6% above the $7.92 consensus.

Service revenue from the Installed Base Management segment proved a notable surprise, generating €2.762 billion, nearly €300 million over guidance, contributing to a gross margin of 54%, which exceeded the projected 51% 52%. System sales totaled €6.6 billion, divided between €3.8 billion from EUV tools and €2.8 billion from non-EUV machines. Logic chips represented 51% of the mix, with Memory accounting for 49%. The quarter also included revenue from one High-NA EUV system.

Following these results, ASML boosted its full-year 2026 sales outlook to a range of €43 €45 billion and raised its gross margin target to 54% 56%, up from €36 €40 billion and 51% 53% previously. The midpoint forecast implies a 35% sales increase compared to 2025’s €32.7 billion. The third quarter guidance calls for €11 €12 billion in sales with a margin between 55% and 57%, suggesting over 20% sequential revenue growth from Q2.

Capacity expansion is central to ASML’s outlook. The company plans a 30% increase in Low-NA EUV manufacturing capacity from about 65 systems in 2026 to 78 80 systems in 2027, with orders already covering almost all of this growth. Demand for 2028 is also strong, prompting plans for a further 30% increase. Deep ultraviolet immersion capacity is set to rise similarly. For Memory, ASML anticipates a more than 75% rise in net system sales this year, driven by DRAM makers expanding high-bandwidth memory and advanced DDR capacity. Intel’s use of High-NA EUV technology on select chip layers marks progress in ASML’s next-generation platform development.

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