ASML raised its 2026 revenue guidance for the second time this year on Tuesday, saying full-year net sales will now land between €43 billion and €45 billion, up from a previously elevated €36-40 billion range. The Dutch lithography monopoly delivered Q2 net sales of €9.3 billion on strong AI-chip demand and lifted its gross margin outlook to 54-56%.
A monopoly with no queue-jumpers
ASML remains the sole supplier of high-NA EUV lithography systems — the multi-hundred-million-euro machines that let TSMC, Samsung Foundry and Intel pattern the transistors on today's frontier AI chips. Q2 system sales included €3.8 billion from EUV alone, and management flagged that customer orders are being locked in under long-term agreements stretching well beyond 2026.
Capacity race widens
To keep up, ASML said it will add roughly 30% to its 2026 low-NA EUV manufacturing capacity and another 30% to its DUV immersion output — the biggest capacity signal ASML has sent to the market this cycle. The Q3 guide is equally aggressive at €11-12 billion, and CEO Christophe Fouquet pointed to accelerating AI infrastructure spend from major foundry customers as the primary driver.
Reads across to the AI supercycle
The print effectively raises the ceiling on the whole AI infrastructure trade. It comes as TSMC itself just posted a 77% Q2 profit jump and as Samsung Foundry secured Meta's $6.5B MTIA deal, all customers whose ambitions ASML must physically enable. Export controls on the highest-end EUV tools to China remain in place, but Fouquet said non-Chinese demand is more than covering any shortfall.
Reporting based on coverage from Reuters, Crypto Briefing, Investing.com and ASML's Q2 2026 release.