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:
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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%
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Year-over-year revenue growth: +3% reported / +16% at constant exchange rates
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Gross margin: 53.3% — supported by a favorable product mix (a year ago: 53.4%)
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Adjusted operating margin: 33.1% — a quarterly record (a year ago: 32.3%)
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Adjusted net profit: €246 million — an increase of €54 million year-over-year
🔭 Q2 2026 Guidance — another beat:
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Q2 2026 revenue forecast: ~€980 million ±5% in constant currency
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The analyst consensus (LSEG) was €883.9 million — the company is well above that figure
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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:
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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)
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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
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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:
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Shares up +63.8% YTD (including today's session) — top performer on the STOXX 600
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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."
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Forward P/E ratio ~38x — a premium relative to the sector justified by record margins and exposure to AI
Source: xstation
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