The Hague (AFP) – Dutch tech giant ASML, which sells cutting-edge machines to make semiconductor chips, reported a drop in annual net profit Wednesday, as geopolitical headwinds and the emergence of Chinese AI start-up DeepSeek disrupt the sector. ASML’s after-tax profit for 2024 came in at 7.6 billion euros ($7.9 billion), compared to 7.8 billion euros for 2023. However, the firm said it had solid net bookings in the fourth quarter of last year of 7.1 billion euros – the most closely watched figure in the markets as a guide to future performance.
CEO Christophe Fouquet hailed “another record year” for the firm in terms of annual sales. Total net sales last year were 28.3 billion euros, a slight gain on the company’s forecast of 28 billion euros. In 2023, ASML booked sales of 27.6 billion euros. “Consistent with our view from the last quarter, the growth in artificial intelligence is the key driver for growth in our industry,” Fouquet said in a statement. “It has created a shift in the market dynamics that is not benefiting all of our customers equally, which creates both opportunities and risks,” he said. ASML left its annual sales forecast of between 30-35 billion euros for 2025 unchanged since its last guidance in October.
The tech giant is caught in the middle of a US-led effort to curb high-tech exports to China over fears they could be used to bolster the country’s military. Earlier this month, the Dutch government announced it was tightening its export controls on advanced semiconductor production equipment but said the measures targeted a “very limited” number of goods. ASML responded at the time that the moves would have “no additional impact” on its business. Chief financial officer Roger Dassen admitted there were “quite a few moving parts when it comes to export controls from the US.”
“But I would say that the combination and the impact of those, both US and Dutch measures, has been appropriately reflected in the guidance that we’ve given before,” he said. “So, the 30 to 35 billion euros properly reflects the limitations that we see from an export controls perspective.” Beijing has been infuriated by the export curbs, describing them as “technological terrorism.” The tech sector has also been buffeted by the sudden emergence of DeepSeek, a low-cost Chinese artificial intelligence chatbot to rival its US competitors. In a paper detailing its development, DeepSeek said the model was trained using only a fraction of the chips used by its Western competitors. “We used to talk about semiconductors everywhere. I think since November we started to talk about AI everywhere,” said Fouquet. “We truly believe that AI is going to bring even more opportunity to this semiconductor industry.”
ASML left its long-term sale guidance unchanged at between 44 and 60 billion euros for 2030 as it pins its hopes on the rapidly expanding AI market. Turning to the fourth quarter, ASML sales came in at 9.3 billion euros, above the previous guidance of between 8.8 billion and 9.2 billion euros. Net profit for the fourth quarter was 2.7 billion euros, compared to the 2.1 billion euros booked in the third quarter of last year. The firm has identified 2024 as a transition year before what it hopes will be significant growth in 2025, although it has described the recovery as slower than expected. It predicted total net sales in the first quarter of this year to be between 7.5 billion and 8.0 billion euros.
ASML executives were left red-faced in October when a “technical error” resulted in the early release of the firm’s third-quarter figures. The unexpected leak, plus a slump in bookings, sparked a major sell-off in ASML stock, with shares down as much as 15 percent.
© 2024 AFP
