ASML shares jump 9% as surge in orders defies fears of DeepSeek hitting AI chip demand
Dutch semiconductor giant ASML on Wednesday reported a big jump in fourth-quarter net bookings, suggesting strong demand for its advanced chipmaking tools even as DeepSeek's low-cost model raises concerns over AI spending.
ASML shares surged more than 11%, before slightly paring gains to trade 9% higher as of 10:20 a.m. London time.
Here's how ASML did versus LSEG consensus estimates for the fourth quarter:
ASML said that net bookings, a key indicator of order demand, came in at 7.09 billion euros. That was up 169% from the 2.63 billion euros ASML reported in the third quarter, and exceeded the 3.99 billion euros expected by analysts polled by Visible Alpha, according to Reuters.
The semiconductor equipment maker also said that its 2025 full-year sales outlook remains unchanged from its previous guidance of between 30 billion and 35 billion euros of total revenue.
ASML had an order backlog of approximately 36 billion euros at the end of 2024, CFO Roger Dassen said in a transcript of a video interview.
ASML suffered losses during a global tech sell-off earlier in the week after the rollout of Chinese startup DeepSeek's R1 reasoning model, which claims to undercut OpenAI on both cost and performance.
The move triggered questions over eyewatering spending from the likes of leading AI players OpenAI and Microsoft on Nvidia graphics processing units, which are needed to train and run the most advanced AI models.
This could hit demand for ASML's high-precision extreme ultraviolet (EUV) machines, which are used to print the most advanced microchips. EUV tools accounted for 3 billion euros of ASML's fourth-quarter net bookings.
ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet struck a positive note on the arrival of low-cost AI models such as DeepSeek,