ASML raised full-year sales outlook to €43–45 billion as demand for chip-making equipment accelerates due to AI boom.

ASML, the Dutch semiconductor equipment giant that holds a near-monopoly on the machines capable of producing the world's most advanced chips, raised its full-year 2026 net sales guidance to €43 billion to €45 billion on July 15, marking the second upward revision of the year. The increase reflects accelerating demand from the artificial intelligence infrastructure buildout, with ripple effects extending into GPU markets and cryptocurrency mining operations.

The company's second-quarter 2026 results exceeded analyst expectations, with net sales of €9.3 billion, a gross margin of 54%, and net income of €2.9 billion. Extreme ultraviolet lithography machines, which generate the only tools capable of printing transistors at the scale required for the most advanced chips, accounted for €3.8 billion in system sales during the quarter. For the third quarter of 2026, ASML guided sales in the range of €11 billion to €12 billion.

Demand for advanced logic and DRAM chips powering data center GPUs and next-generation computing infrastructure continues to outpace supply, positioning ASML as the sole supplier of equipment capable of meeting this need at the cutting edge. The company plans a roughly 30% increase in Low-NA EUV capacity for 2027.

The expansion has attracted attention from companies once focused purely on cryptocurrency mining. Firms like Core Scientific and Hut 8 have pivoted aggressively toward artificial intelligence and high-performance computing, making their operations dependent on access to cutting-edge chips and the GPU hardware they enable.

ASML continues navigating export restrictions preventing shipment of its most advanced EUV tools to China. However, strong demand from Taiwanese, South Korean, and American manufacturers—including TSMC, Samsung, and Intel—has more than offset the lost Chinese revenue.