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ASM International is driving the European tech and has released “stellar” forecasts
Last night, Dutch semiconductor equipment giant ASM International released its Q1 2026 results, which beat expectations and set new margin records. This morning, the company’s shares are jumping by +8.4% to all-time highs , pulling the entire European tech sector along with them and propelling ASMI to the top of the pan-European index.
The technology sector is driving today’s gains in Europe. Source: xStation Citi commented: “ASM significantly exceeded expectations and raised its forecasts, even by semiconductor industry standards.” 📊 Key figures — bet & raise:
- Q1 2026 revenue: €862.5 million vs. consensus of €828.5 million (LSEG) — at the upper end of the company’s guidance of €830 million ±4%
- Year-over-year revenue growth: +3% reported / +16% at constant exchange rates
- Gross margin: 53.3% — supported by a favorable product mix (a year ago: 53.4%)
- Adjusted operating margin: 33.1% — a quarterly record (a year ago: 32.3%)
- Adjusted net profit: €246 million — an increase of €54 million year-over-year
🔭 Q2 2026 Guidance — another beat:
- Q2 2026 revenue forecast: ~€980 million ±5% in constant currency
- The analyst consensus (LSEG) was €883.9 million — the company is well above that figure
- H2 2026 is expected to be stronger than H1 — management maintains its optimistic outlook for the full year
🀏 What is driving this growth? The three main drivers evident in the results:
- Logic/Foundry demand — strong performance on leading-edge nodes + a clear rebound in China (the company reported that China revenue is projected to grow year-over-year)
- AI-led investment — customers are accelerating investments in production capacity for AI infrastructure; production of pilot lines for the 1.4 nm node is set to begin in H2 2026
- Favorable product mix & cost control — record operating margin while increasing R&D spending
CEO Hichem M’Saad: “Customers are increasing their spending on state-of-the-art technological processes and investing in pilot production lines for the 1.4-nm process—these could be used in products from Nvidia and Apple.” 📈 Market and Valuation:
- Shares up + 63.8% YTD (including today’s session) — top performer on the STOXX 600
- The company has stopped publishing data on new orders (bookings) — analysts such as Degroof Petercam are taking it in stride: “With a beat in guidance like this, we couldn’t care less.”
- Forward P/E ratio ~38x — a premium relative to the sector justified by record margins and exposure to AI
Source: xstation
