Shares of critical chip firm ASML drop 5% as sales miss expectations with 22% fall

Key Facts

After an excellent Q4 orders, Q1 orders were expected to shrink due to their lumpy nature, but the amount that they fell was worse than expectations and could potentially be an early warning sign for concern,” Ben Barringer, technology analyst at Quilter Cheviot, said in a note on Wednesday.
“There a number of factors at play; the economic environment is still incredibly uncertain and thus customers are not ordering in the same quantities as they have done previously; there is a transition in product in 2025 so some may just be holding off and preserving any spend; it’s still early in the year and things may turn around; and finally, China sales are good but difficult to gauge as to what will happen going forward.”
OUTLOOK “Our outlook for the full year 2024 is unchanged, with the second half of the year expected to be stronger than the first half, in line with the industry’s continued recovery from the downturn,” ASML CEO Peter Wennink said in a statement.
However, the company said in a document released alongside its results, that sales of its systems to China accounted for 49% of the total in the first quarter, up from 39% in the fourth quarter of 2023.