ASM's second-quarter guidance far exceeds expectations; AI infrastructure boosts chip equipment demand.

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Dutch chip equipment manufacturer ASM International NV has issued strong performance guidance, with the AI infrastructure investment boom accelerating and spreading upstream to the equipment sector.

The company expects second quarter revenue to reach a midpoint of 980 million euros, about 10% higher than the average analyst forecast.

CEO Hichem M'Saad stated that the rapid expansion of AI application scenarios is accelerating investment in computing power infrastructure, with customers' purchasing urgency rising significantly. After the announcement, ASM's US-listed ADRs surged up to 6.6% intraday.

ASM also disclosed that it expects preliminary investment in pre-commercialization production lines for 1.4 nanometer process chips in the second half of this year, which could further expand market space and provide new growth momentum for equipment demand.

Accelerated AI investment drives chip equipment procurement

According to ASM International’s statement released after Tuesday’s trading, the company expects second quarter revenue (at constant currency) to be about 980 million euros, with a fluctuation range of about 5%. This guidance is well above the Bloomberg consensus analyst forecast of 887 million euros.

In the first quarter, ASM’s revenue rose to 862.5 million euros, also beating market expectations. The stock has gained more than 60% so far this year.

Tech giants like Alphabet and startups like OpenAI have allocated hundreds of billions of dollars this year for data center and related infrastructure construction. The explosion in demand for high-performance chips is gradually passing upstream to the chip equipment field where ASM operates.

Christophe Fouquet, CEO of Dutch chip equipment giant ASML Holding NV, also said this month that chip demand is "surpassing supply," prompting wafer fabs to accelerate expansion and leveraging the AI boom to raise their full-year sales outlook.

Advanced process deployment continues to deepen

ASM’s main business is "deposition equipment" used for manufacturing advanced chips. The company is currently benefiting from strong momentum as customers migrate to the 2-nanometer process and "gate-all-around" architecture—its equipment can deposit atomic-layer thin films to help improve chip energy efficiency.

Looking further ahead, the company expects preliminary investment in pre-commercialization production lines for the 1.4 nanometer process in the second half of this year, and ASM believes this will further expand the market.

Hichem M'Saad also flagged external risks, noting that "the situation in the Middle East, rising energy prices, and their potential impact on global GDP growth make the overall macro landscape more uncertain," but emphasized that terminal market demand is "still mainly driven by AI."

It is worth noting that ASM has stopped disclosing quarterly order data since the first quarter, as it believes this metric does not accurately reflect the company's business situation.

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