ASML Holding NV (NASDAQ: ASML) reported first-quarter 2026 net sales of €8.8 billion and net income of €2.8 billion on April 15 in Veldhoven, the Netherlands, and raised its full-year sales outlook as chipmakers continue expanding capacity tied to artificial intelligence demand.
The company said first-quarter sales came in within its prior guidance range of €8.2 billion to €8.9 billion, while gross margin reached 53.0%. ASML now expects 2026 net sales of between €36 billion and €40 billion, up from its earlier forecast of €34 billion to €39 billion. It also maintained an expected 2026 gross margin range of 51% to 53%.
The results position ASML as one of the clearest indicators of capital spending trends in the semiconductor sector because its lithography systems are used in the production of advanced chips. Its updated outlook suggests customers are still planning large equipment investments despite supply constraints and export-control uncertainty.
#AI Demand Supports Equipment Spending
Chief Executive Officer Christophe Fouquet said the industry’s growth outlook continues to strengthen because of AI-related infrastructure spending, adding that customers have raised their short- and medium-term demand expectations for ASML’s systems and service upgrades.
The company said order intake remained strong and that customers are accelerating capacity expansion plans for 2026 and beyond. ASML expects second-quarter 2026 net sales of between €8.4 billion and €9.0 billion, with gross margin in a range of 51% to 52%.
In the first quarter, ASML sold 67 new lithography systems and 12 used systems, compared with 94 new systems and eight used systems in the fourth quarter of 2025. Installed Base Management sales, which include service and field option sales, rose to €2.488 billion from €2.134 billion in the prior quarter.
Gross profit for the quarter was €4.645 billion, compared with €5.068 billion in the fourth quarter, while basic earnings per share were €7.15, down from €7.35. End-quarter cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments fell to €8.376 billion from €13.322 billion in the previous quarter.
#Memory Spending Shifts the Sales Mix
A larger share of ASML’s latest quarterly sales was tied to memory-related demand. The company said 51% of net sales of its new tools in the first quarter went to memory customers, up from 30% in the prior quarter.
That shift reflects continued tightness in parts of the memory market, where demand from AI systems and data centers has supported production expansion plans. The trend is relevant for ASML because memory manufacturers require lithography equipment for both new capacity and technology upgrades.
Regional sales data also pointed to where that spending is concentrated. Customers in South Korea accounted for 45% of first-quarter sales, while customers in Taiwan represented 23%. China’s share of system sales fell to 19% from 36% in the December quarter.
The change in geographic mix comes as ASML faces restrictions on what equipment it can ship to China. The company said its 2026 guidance range is wide enough to reflect possible outcomes from ongoing discussions around export controls. That caveat leaves room for policy developments to affect the pace and destination of future shipments.
#Export Controls Remain a Constraint
Export restrictions remain one of the main uncertainties in ASML’s business, particularly because the company cannot ship its most advanced systems to China. The company also faces the possibility of tighter rules on less-advanced machines, which could affect a market that has at times represented a meaningful share of quarterly sales.
That risk sits alongside a stronger demand backdrop. While ASML described 2026 as likely to be another growth year across its businesses, the company attributed that outlook to customer demand dynamics and did not remove policy uncertainty from the equation.
The quarter also included capital returns to shareholders. ASML said it intends to declare a total dividend for 2025 of €7.50 per ordinary share, a 17% increase from 2024. After three interim dividends of €1.60 per share paid in 2025 and 2026, the company said this would result in a proposed final dividend of €2.70 per share for the annual general meeting.
In addition, ASML said it bought about €1.1 billion of shares during the first quarter under its 2026-2028 share buyback program.
Taken together, the first-quarter report showed a company benefiting from sustained semiconductor equipment demand linked to AI infrastructure, while still operating under trade-policy constraints that could shape how much of that demand turns into shipments. For the broader chip industry, ASML’s updated sales outlook offers another signal that manufacturers remain willing to commit capital to long-term capacity additions, especially in memory and advanced logic production. At the same time, the lower China contribution and the company’s reference to export-control discussions indicate that growth expectations still depend partly on regulatory outcomes outside its direct control.