New to this? Read it in simple words
  • ASML makes the machines that chip factories use to print chips.
  • From July to September, it sold €11.7 billion and made a profit of €5.0 billion.
  • It now expects sales of €44 billion to €45 billion in 2026.
  • ASML says its planned supply for 2027 and 2028 will not fully meet demand, mainly from AI.
Words to know
Lithography machine
A machine that prints the tiny patterns of a chip onto a silicon disc, using light.
Capacity
How many machines a company can build in a year.
Forecast
What a company or its customers expect to happen, not a promise or a firm order.

ASML, a Dutch company, makes lithography machines: the machines that chip factories use to print the patterns of chips. On October 14, it said demand for them will run ahead of what it can build.

The numbers

From July to September, ASML sold machines and services worth €11.7 billion and made a profit of €5.0 billion. The profit was higher than analysts expected, CNBC and Reuters report. Sales were close to their forecasts.

For the whole of 2026, ASML now expects sales of €44 billion to €45 billion. In July, it had said €43 billion to €45 billion. For the last three months of the year, it expects €14.2 billion to €15.2 billion.

Sources12345

Explainer
ASML’s quarter, its forecast, and the years it can’t fully supply.

ASML’s own figures and outlook of October 14; the demand is customers’ forecasts, not firm orders.

Demand ahead of supply

“Our customers continue to increase their short- and medium-term equipment demand forecasts with us,” Christophe Fouquet, ASML’s chief executive, said. He named their views on “the size and duration of AI-related investments” as the main reason.

ASML now expects that its supply “as currently planned for both 2027 and 2028 will not fully meet the demand of our customers”, Fouquet said. Some customers want to place orders for 2029 and even 2030, he added.

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More machines, and what is still a forecast

In July, ASML said it would raise its capacity by 30% for 2027, and was looking at another 30% for 2028. It is now looking at ways to go beyond that for 2028.

The demand behind these plans comes from customers’ forecasts, not firm orders. ASML’s report gives no figure for new orders.

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Sources

Every fact in this story comes from the sources below. Open them to check our work.

  1. 1
    Primary source · October 14, 2026ASML reports €11.7 billion total net sales and €5.0 billion net income in Q3 2026 ASML (via GlobeNewswire)
  2. 2
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  4. 4
    Research · October 14, 2026Chip tool giant ASML nudges up outlook as AI-driven demand outruns supply Reuters (via Euronext)
  5. 5
    Research · October 14, 2026ASML Raises Sales Forecast For A Third Time, But Q3 Revenue Miss Sends Stock Lower Stocktwits (via Yahoo Finance)
How we checked this story

The results and the supply outlook come from ASML’s own report; the demand behind them is its customers’ forecasts. Reports differ on whether sales were slightly below or in line with analysts’ forecasts.

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