Chip giant Asml plummets on the stock exchange due to falling orders and estimates
The company published the data a day earlier than expected by mistake. Major stocks in the sector dragged down
2' min read
2' min read
ASML Holding's shares plummeted after an unexpected warning about orders and sales forecast for 2025. A negative surprise, amplified by the fact that the company, in an error, published its financial results on its website a day earlier than expected.
ASML is Europe's largest technology company and the leading supplier of lithography machines, used for the production of semiconductors. Its main customers include Taiwan's TSMC, as well as Intel, Samsung, Micron and SK Hynix. And despite geopolitical tensions, China is still its largest market, accounting for 47 per cent of sales in the quarter.
Orders in the third quarter did not exceed EUR 2.6 billion, against an average estimate of analysts heard by Bloomberg of EUR 5.39 billion. A slowdown in the semiconductor industry reduced demand for the Dutch company's chip-making machines. The Veldhoven-based company then lowered its 2025 revenue forecast to between EUR 30 billion and EUR 35 billion. For next year, the company also estimates 'a gross margin of between 51% and 53%, below the range previously provided, mainly due to the lag in demand for Euv equipment,' commented CEO Christophe Fouquet. Euv technology allows silicon wafers to be etched with extremely high resolution and pushes chip miniaturisation to the limit, putting the Dutch champion at the top of the industry.
The results caused the shares to plummet 16% in Amsterdam, closing at EUR 668.10, the biggest drop since 12 June 1998. The negative effect spread globally across the technology sector, with shares of US chip makers Nvidia and Amd losing 4 and 5% respectively, Broadcom -3%. Chip designer Arm dropped 7.8%. STmicroelectronics -5%.
Capitalisation, meanwhile, fell to 266 billion, but ASML remains fifth in the semiconductor industry ranking. Although demand for chips related to artificial intelligence is strong, other segments of the market are 'taking longer to recover' and therefore 'the recovery will be more gradual than expected and will continue into 2025, leading customers to be more cautious', Fouquet said in the note originally scheduled for Wednesday. The company intends to explain the early release of the data, which some immediately labelled 'yellow'.
