AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – ASML Holding NV, Europe’s biggest technology company by market value, on Wednesday reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter sales and net profit, helped by booming chipmaking equipment sales to China.
Net profit rose 9% to 2.0 billion euros ($2.17 billion) on sales of 7.2 billion euros, beating analyst expectations of a 1.87 billion euro net profit on revenue of 6.9 billion euros, according to LSEG data.
The company registered strong orders of more than 9 billion euros in the fourth quarter – more than triple third-quarter levels – but kept its outlook for flat sales growth in 2024.
“The semiconductor industry continues to work through the bottom of the cycle,” CEO Peter Wennink said in a statement.
“Although our customers are still not certain about the shape of the semiconductor market recovery this year, there are some positive signs,” he said, citing improving demand for chips and higher factory utilisation rates.
However, ASML has said sales to China, its third-largest market after Taiwan and South Korea, will be impacted in 2024 by new U.S. and Dutch export restrictions introduced in 2023, affecting up to 15% of the company’s sales there.
In the fourth quarter of 2022, ASML reported net profit of 1.82 billion euros on sales of 6.43 billion euros.
($1 = 0.9207 euros)
(Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Jamie Freed)
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