Dutch chip manufacturing equipment maker ASML saw quarter-over-quarter net bookings surge by 169 percent during Q4 2024, up from €2.6 billion ($2.8bn) in the previous quarter to €7.1bn ($7.3bn).
Of those quarterly bookings, €3bn ($3.1bn) related to Extreme Ultraviolet lithography (EUV) bookings, almost double the figure the company saw in Q3.
However, despite this increase, the company saw its year-over-year (YoY) net bookings decline from €20bn ($20.8bn) in FY23 to €18.9bn ($19.6bn) in FY24.
Meanwhile, overall net sales for Q4 2024 totaled €9.3bn ($9.7bn), bringing the company’s net sales for the financial year to €28.3bn ($29.4bn), a YoY increase of 2.5 percent. R&D expenses for 2024 reached €4.3bn ($4.5bn), up from €4bn ($4.2bn) in the previous financial year.
Netherlands-based ASML is the sole global supplier of EUV photolithography machines that are needed to make the most advanced 3nm and 5nm chips. During Q4 2024, the company sold 119 new lithography systems and 13 used lithography systems, an increase of 13 new and 3 old units when compared to Q3 2024.
However, while the company sold 10 more old systems in 2024 than 2023, the number of new units sold decreased from 421 in FY23 to 380 in FY24.
“Our fourth-quarter was a record in terms of revenue, with total net sales coming in at €9.3 billion ($9.7bn), and a gross margin of 51.7 percent, both above our guidance. This was primarily driven by additional upgrades. We also recognized revenue on two High NA EUV systems. We shipped a third High NA EUV system to a customer in the fourth quarter,” ASML’s CEO Christophe Fouque said.
Looking ahead to FY25, Fouque said the company expected first-quarter total net sales between €7.5bn ($7.8bn) and €8bn ($8.3bn), with expected total net sales for 2025 between €30bn ($31bn) and €35bn ($36bn).
"Consistent with our view from the last quarter, the growth in artificial intelligence is the key driver for growth in our industry. It has created a shift in the market dynamics that is not benefiting all of our customers equally, which creates both opportunities and risks as reflected in our 2025 revenue range,” Fouque said.
Earlier this week, ASML saw its shares drop 9.7 percent in pre-market trading after Chinese startup DeepSeek claimed its R1 LLM (large language model) was trained for significantly less money than those developed by US labs.
Speaking to CNBC after the company’s results were posted, Fouque said: “A lower cost of AI could mean more applications. More applications means more demand over time. We see that as an opportunity for more chips demand.”
