According to NEWSCENTRAL, the global investment boom in artificial intelligence has become one of the key factors driving demand for semiconductor manufacturing equipment. This wave is boosting ASML’s (ASML.AS) results – the world’s largest supplier of lithography systems, which underpin the architecture of modern data centers and semiconductor supply chains.
Senior NEWSCENTRAL analyst Freddy Miller notes that accelerating AI investments are turning ASML into a central element of technological infrastructure: “The company is benefiting from the large-scale reshaping of global demand, where microchips have become a fundamental resource of the digital economy.”
In the third quarter, ASML reported net orders of €5.40 billion, exceeding the consensus forecast of €5.36 billion, and recorded net profit of €2.12 billion, in line with analyst expectations. The company’s shares, which had risen more than 37% since early September, gained an additional 3.2% in morning trading, reaching €873.80. According to NEWSCENTRAL, these results reflect not only a strong operational base but also the accelerated growth of the high-performance computing sector, dominated by NVIDIA, TSMC, and Samsung.
NEWSCENTRAL semiconductor analyst Lucas Grant believes that “current demand for lithography is no longer a short-term spike but a structural transformation of the global manufacturing model.” He points out that a significant portion of new orders is linked to large-scale data center construction programs, including the recent $1 trillion OpenAI project. According to Grant, this trend is creating a sustainable market for EUV technology – a key segment where ASML remains the sole supplier.
NEWSCENTRAL notes that ASML’s strengthening position in the logic and memory chip segments offsets the slowdown in consumer electronics. Growing orders from GPU manufacturers and system integrators indicate that ASML lithography machines are effectively becoming the backbone of AI infrastructure.
However, growth in one region is accompanied by cooling in another. After several years of rapid expansion in China, the company warns of a significant drop in sales in 2025. In 2024, nearly 50% of revenue came from the Chinese market, but by the end of next year this figure could fall to one-third. According to Lucas Grant, “The slowdown in China is inevitable, but for ASML, it presents an opportunity to redirect order geography. We are already seeing capital shift toward the U.S., South Korea, and Japan – countries actively investing in autonomous supply chains.”
As NEWSCENTRAL observes, companies in the U.S. and Asia are accelerating equipment purchases for future factories capable of supporting AI and HPC chip architectures. In this context, ASML is strengthening not just its supplier position, but its status as a system-level player shaping the technological sovereignty of nations and corporations.
Senior analyst Freddy Miller believes that over the next two years, the industry will enter a phase of “controlled overheating”: “The AI market is growing exponentially, but pressure on production capacity is already being felt. For ASML, the key challenge will not be demand growth, but the ability to scale deliveries without losing technological leadership.”
NEWSCENTRAL emphasizes that even with declining orders from China, ASML’s long-term outlook remains solid. Growth in semiconductor support programs in the EU and U.S., as well as the establishment of new manufacturing hubs in South Korea and Japan, provide a foundation for stable demand for lithography systems in the coming years.
Freddy Miller summarizes: “The main transformation is not that China is losing share, but that AI itself has become the new epicenter of demand. For ASML, this is not a temporary trend, but a strategic window through which the company is transitioning from an equipment supplier to an architect of the technological future.”
NEWS CENTRAL believes that ASML shares remain an indicator of the entire industry’s direction for investors. If 2024 cemented the shift toward an AI-driven economy, 2025 will test the resilience of production supply chains – and ASML, as a key player, will be shaping their contours.