{"text":[[{"start":8.2,"text":"ASML has raised its full-year sales forecast for the second time this year as Europe’s most valuable company rides a wave of AI-driven demand for its chip manufacturing equipment."}],[{"start":19.9,"text":"Chief executive Christophe Fouquet on Wednesday hailed the strength of demand for its lithography machines that make the cutting-edge chips required to run AI models, with orders piling up for the next two years."}],[{"start":32.4,"text":"In a sign of its bullishness, the company said it planned to raise production capacity of its most advanced “extreme ultraviolet” lithography machines by 30 per cent next year and was considering a similar increase in 2028."}],[{"start":47.05,"text":"The company can produce only a few dozen of the machines a year."}],[{"start":51.199999999999996,"text":"Fouquet said ASML was already “close to [receiving] all the EUV orders we need for 2027”, as well as a “large number of orders” for the following year as customers “accelerate all their plans”."}],[{"start":63.449999999999996,"text":"ASML’s role at the centre of the global chipmaking industry has made it Europe’s biggest winner from the artificial intelligence boom, with its market capitalisation of more than €600bn giving it a commanding lead over other companies on the continent."}],[{"start":79.35,"text":"Shares in ASML were up 7 per cent in early trading in Amsterdam. They have more than doubled over the past year, as the AI boom has propelled semiconductor stocks higher, with shares in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co surging 120 per cent in the same period."}],[{"start":97.19999999999999,"text":"Micron, the leading manufacturer of memory chips, is up more than 700 per cent, while Intel has surged more than 350 per cent."}],[{"start":106.39999999999999,"text":"The confident tone struck by ASML may help allay Wall Street’s fears over the sustainability of the AI rally, which has triggered volatility across AI-related chip stocks in recent weeks."}],[{"start":119.19999999999999,"text":"The Netherlands-based group said it expected total net sales of between €43bn and €45bn for the full year, well ahead of analysts’ forecasts of €39.6bn, according to S&P Visible Alpha."}],[{"start":135,"text":"For the second quarter, sales grew 21 per cent to €9.3bn from a year ago, surpassing forecasts, as customers upgraded their existing equipment. Net income of €2.9bn for the quarter also eclipsed expectations of €2.6bn."}],[{"start":153.35,"text":"“Our customers are getting long-term agreements with their own customers, which really invites them to commit for the long term,” Fouquet said in a pre-recorded interview. “Because they have what I would call a quite unprecedented visibility on what will happen to the market.” "}],[{"start":168.15,"text":"ASML’s ability to produce enough of the complex machines has been seen by some in Silicon Valley as a potential throttle on the AI industry’s growth, which is underpinned by chips such as Nvidia’s graphics processing units. "}],[{"start":181.70000000000002,"text":"Fouquet said the latest quarter’s performance reflected “continuous, very strong demand from our customers” as well as the company’s ability to meet that demand."}],[{"start":192.10000000000002,"text":"Revenue from customers making memory chips, whose producers have seen extraordinary stock price gains in recent months, is now projected to increase by 75 per cent this year. "}],[{"start":203.00000000000003,"text":"Its latest results follow strong indications of demand from two of its biggest customers this week. Intel said it planned a €5bn investment to expand its production capacity in Ireland and TSMC reported a 36 per cent rise in quarterly sales."}],[{"start":219.90000000000003,"text":"ASML said on Wednesday that Intel had begun to deploy its latest chipmaking machine, dubbed “High NA” EUV, in production — a key milestone for a product that sells for as much as $400mn. "}],[{"start":232.10000000000002,"text":"The company is also in discussions with Elon Musk about the SpaceX and Tesla chief’s ambitious Terafab chipmaking project, which could create a large new customer for ASML."}],[{"start":249.9,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1784104954_1556.mp3"}