ASML brushes off chip market headwinds

Presenting Q1 results Wednesday, ASML maintains its full-year and long-term growth expectations despite signs of weakness in the semiconductor market. “We continue to see mixed signals on demand from the different end-market segments,” CEO Peter Wennink says, adding that “the overall demand still exceeds our capacity for this year.”

A quick tour of ASML’s largest customers reveals that the chip market has indeed seen better days. Last week, TSMC reported a year-on-year sales drop of 15 percent in March, a sign that inflation and cooling economies have tempered consumers’ appetites for electronics. Expecting the market to pick up in the second half of the year, the Taiwanese foundry has adjusted capital spending plans to 32-36 billion euros this year, down from the 36 billion euros penciled in originally.