AI and GAA keep ASM’s motor purring

The AI boom as well as the upcoming transition to gate-all-around (GAA) transistor technology is keeping ASM International’s order book filled up. The Almere-headquartered firm reported 815 million euros in bookings in Q3, up 30 percent compared to last year, even as traditional market drivers such as consumer electronics and automotive/industrial segments continue to perform sluggish.

“AI is increasingly driving the demand for the most advanced devices, both in logic/foundry and HBM DRAM, and this plays to the strengths of ASM. While recently announced capex reductions have somewhat impacted the outlook for advanced logic/foundry spending, we still project a substantial increase in our GAA-related sales in 2025. Leading customers have reiterated their plans to ramp the GAA node in high-volume manufacturing next year,” ASM CEO Hichem M’Saad comments.

ASM’s assessment of the market mirrors that of ASML, which reported Q3 results two weeks ago. “Without AI, the market would be very sad if you ask me,” ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet said. While the litho giant lowered its mid-point guidance for 2025 from 35 to 32.5 billion euros, ASM upped it from 3.3 to 3.5 billion euros.