Equipment, materials and processes are in the spotlight this week – but innovative algorithms and architectures deserve their share of attention, too.

Strong EUV demand drives ASML growth

Several years in the making, EUV lithography is now paying off for ASML. Fourth-quarter and full-year results just announced by the Dutch equipment manufacturer look very good: Q4 2019 net sales totaled €4.0 billion, with net income of €1.1 billion and gross margin of 48.1%. As for full 2019 results, net sales amounted to €11.8 billion with net income of €2.6 billion. For the first quarter of 2020, ASML expects net sales of between €3.1 billion and €3.3 billion and a gross margin between 46% and 47%. “We shipped eight EUV systems in the fourth quarter and we received orders for nine EUV systems,” said ASML’s CEO Peter Wennink in a statement. “We expect that 2020 will be another growth year, both in sales and in profitability, driven by EUV demand and our Installed Base business. The Logic market is expected to remain strong in 2020, due to investments in 5G and high-performance compute applications. In the Memory market, our customers are starting to see the first signs of recovery,” Wennink added.
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