ASML Holding, an equipment supplier to chip makers, has reported sales of €6.4 billion, gross margin of 51.5 percent and net income of €1.8 billion in Q4 2022.
Quarterly bookings of ASML touched €6.3 billion in Q4. ASML, which has struggled to meet demand as top customers TSMC, Samsung and Intel are all engaged in major expansions, said its order backlog had grown to a record 40 billion euros ($43.62 billion) at the end of the year.
ASML, Europe’s largest technology company, posted sales of €21.2 billion, gross margin of 50.5 percent and net income of €5.6 billion in 2022.
ASML said EUV lithography system sales grew 12 percent to €7.0 billion, recognized 40 systems and shipped 54. All five EUV customers have placed High-NA orders. DUV lithography system sales grew 13 percent to €7.7 billion, as part of capacity ramp.
ASML shipped new models on both ArF immersion (NXT:2100i) and dry (NXT:870) systems. Metrology & Inspection systems sales grew 28 percent to €660 million. ASML shipped new eScan 460, eP5 XLE and eP6 e-beam systems. Installed base business grew 16 percent to €5.7 billion providing customers services and upgrade capabilities.
ASML said it expects 2023 sales to grow over 25 percent compared to 2022 with slight improvement in gross margin.
Veldhoven, The Netherlands-based ASML expects Q1 2023 sales of €6.1-€6.5 billion and a gross margin of 49-50 percent. ASML expects R&D costs of around €965 million and SG&A costs of around €285 million in 2023.
“We continue to see uncertainty in the market caused by inflation, rising interest rates, risk of recession and geopolitical developments related to export controls. Our customers indicate that they expect the market to rebound in the second half of the year. Considering our order lead times and the strategic nature of lithography investments, demand for our systems therefore remains strong,” ASML President and Chief Executive Officer Peter Wennink said.
ASML earnings report indicated that China accounted for 14 percent of its sales in 2022.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte discussed possible new export restrictions on sales of ASML’s older equipment to customers in China due to security concerns, Reuters news report said.
