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ASML Rises On Upgraded Outlook As Capacity Expansion Signals Robust Chip Demand

Zero Rss
4 weeks 1 day ago
ASML Rises On Upgraded Outlook As Capacity Expansion Signals Robust Chip Demand

Technology stocks moved higher early Wednesday after ASML Holding delivered strong earnings and raised its full-year guidance, providing fresh evidence that demand for the advanced chips and manufacturing equipment powering the AI boom remains intact.

Nasdaq 100 futures gained about 40bps, while ASML shares rose 4% in Amsterdam after the company lifted its annual sales forecast for the second time this year. SK Hynix surged 8.8% in Seoul as the memory-chip maker's locally listed shares caught up with its US-listed ADRs, which soared 27% on Tuesday.

Focusing on ASML earnings, the company now expects annual revenue of 43 billion euros to 45 billion euros, well above its previous guidance and the Bloomberg Consensus estimate of 39.3 billion euros.

Second-quarter sales and profit also beat the Bloomberg Consensus estimate, while ASML lifted its full-year gross-margin forecast to as much as 56%, exceeding the 52.5% estimate.

ASML shares are up 4% in Amsterdam. Year-to-date, shares have risen 75%, continuing a powerful uptrend and maintaining the up-and-to-the-right pattern since mid-2025.

ASML plans to increase capacity for its low-NA extreme ultraviolet lithography machines by about 30% in 2027 and is considering another 30% expansion in 2028. CEO Christophe Fouquet said customers are increasing capital-spending plans, creating demand for more machines beginning this year.

Here's a snapshot of the full-year forecast (courtesy of Bloomberg):

  • Sees net sales EU43 billion to EU45 billion, saw EU36 billion to EU40 billion, estimate EU39.3 billion (Bloomberg Consensus)
  • Sees gross margin 54% to 56%, saw 51% to 53%, estimate 52.5%

Third quarter forecast:

  • Sees net sales EU11.0 billion to EU12.0 billion, estimate EU10.27 billion
  • Sees gross margin 55% to 57%, estimate 52.5%
  • Sees R&D expenses about EU1.2 billion

Results suggest that ASML customers, including TSMC, Samsung and SK Hynix, are expanding production, while Intel has begun using the company's most advanced High-NA system. ASML expects a surge in demand from Elon Musk's proposed Terafab chipmaking project.

Here is Goldman analysts' first take on the ASML earnings, very positive:

ASML: Q2 beat, FY26 guidance was raised, and — more importantly — management gave stronger color on 2027 and 2028

Low-NA EUV capacity, directly addressing the key investor debate. Q2 sales of €9.3bn beat consensus of €8.9bn and came in above the top end of guidance.

Gross margin of 54.0% was also well ahead of the 51–52% guide and 51.7% consensus. Q3 guidance was materially better than expected, with sales of €11–12bn — around 11% above VA consensus at the midpoint — and gross margin of 55–57%, implying Q3 EBIT is roughly 26% above VA consensus.

The most important takeaway is that management addressed the core investor question on AI-driven EUV capacity. ASML said AI demand is accelerating customer capacity plans, order intake was "extremely strong," and it now plans to add 30% to 2026 Low-NA EUV capacity of c.65 tools for 2027, taking capacity to roughly 85 tools.

Other commentary from Wall Street (courtesy of Bloomberg):

Barclays (overweight)

  • “We think ASML has given a lot of what investors were looking for," says analyst Simon Coles
  • Says its guidance for low-NA EUV capacity for 2027 and 2028 should reduce investor debate on whether the firm is supply constrained
  • Low-NA EUV bookings in 1H could be as much as €22b, reaching record levels

JPMorgan (overweight)

  • The 2028 capacity guidance implies more than €65 in EPS for 2028, potentially enhanced even more so by the very strong installed base management revenue, says analyst Sandeep Deshpande
  • The company isn't guiding to 90 EUV tools for 2027, but "we don't believe this should matter" given the much stronger-than- expected guidance for EUV and DUV capacity for 2028

Jefferies (hold)

  • The company's outlook comments are mixed, with the strong increase in installed base management sales and gross margins being especially positive, while the 2027 EUV guide is underwhelming, says analyst Janardan Menon
  • Says 2027 low-NA EUV capacity guidance is below market expectations that have climbed sharply recently

Morgan Stanley (overweight)

  • Despite no longer reporting bookings, the company talked of very strong order intake continuing across 1H, and customers looking to accelerate capacity expansions, says analyst Lee Simpson
  • That suggests strong sales momentum into FY27

Oddo BHF (outperform)

  • Estimates should go up materially, probably in the range of 20%
  • China exposure remains at around 20% of 2026 sales but is now on a materially higher revenue base, with incremental demand coming primarily from logic
  • "ASML remains a story of unrivaled tech dominance and now benefits from a fundamentally different cycle driven by AI"

Stephan Kemper, chief investment strategist at BNP Paribas Wealth Management, noted, "As such, company fundamentals matter more than ever."

But more importantly, read our latest note on hyperscaler stress titled "Carnage" In The Hyperscaler Bond Market: Did Goldman Just Pop The AI Debt Bubble ... 

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/15/2026 - 07:20
Tyler Durden

Captain Sully Reveals Alzheimer’s Diagnosis, Trump Shifts Hormuz Strategy 

NY Post
4 weeks 1 day ago
Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, the hero pilot behind the “Miracle on the Hudson,” has revealed he has been diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease and says he’s sharing his journey to help other families facing the illness. The retired airline captain says the diagnosis won’t stop him from continuing a lifetime of service and advocacy. Also,...
New York Post Video

US Gov't Set To Expose Far-Left Radicalization Pipeline Leading Back To Communist Cuba

Zero Rss
4 weeks 1 day ago
US Gov't Set To Expose Far-Left Radicalization Pipeline Leading Back To Communist Cuba

Watching the Democratic Socialists of America tighten their grip on the Democratic Party while far-left activists grow louder and bolder in their calls for revolution, "killing capitalists," and destroying the U.S. "from within" set off alarm bells. 

Even the left-wing outlet The Atlantic acknowledged the troubling rise of "left-wing terrorism" following a wave of riots, political violence, assassinations and attempted assassinations, foiled terror plots, and firebombings targeting private companies.

That raised an important question: Are these efforts by far-left activist networks and NGOs to sow chaos organic, or are they part of, or linked to, foreign subversion networks that are helping fuel the unrest?

That prompted us in December 2025 to ask this question: "Is There a 'Cuba Connection' Behind the Radicalization of America's Nonprofit Left?"

Six and a half months later, a State Department official speaking to Breitbart News appears to be answering the very question we raised months ago.

"The State Department will be issuing a report detailing the Cuban regime's longstanding campaign to foment left-wing extremism in the United States and internationally," the official said, adding, "The report finds that for nearly seven decades, the Cuban regime has played an indispensable role in nearly every notable far-left insurgency, revolution, and militant movement across the Western Hemisphere and beyond."

At the time we raised the question, we explained that the National Network on Cuba (NNOC) is a deliberately loose coalition linking 77 activist organizations, NGOs, and political campaigns while minimizing legal exposure and obscuring clear command structures. The network was also linked to the now-sanctioned Cuban organization known as the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples, or ICAP. ICAP is a Castro-era organization used to spread Marxist ideology abroad. 

Think of the NNOC as a potential pathway through which foreign subversion operations could infiltrate U.S. NGOs, with ICAP sitting at the center. Notice that the DSA is listed as a member organization of NNOC.

ICAP functions as the intake valve - political cover for intelligence operations designed to cultivate long-term assets rather than short-term spies.

The DSA is also a stated partner of the sanctioned ICAP.

Should only now make sense why DSA leaders are promoting "destroying America from within," and the way to do it appears to be through subversion networks empowering overeducated useful liberal idiots. 

Frank, Aaron, Hank and Sam are Communist insurgents, radicalized marxist revolutionaries hiding behind personal ideologies to justfy their 1A expressions of the right to promote the insurrection of the Constitutional Republic of the United States of America pic.twitter.com/XLzzjisOqd

— AnimalFarm1945 (Moshe) (@Farm1945A) July 6, 2026

Just days ago, independent Cuban news outlet ADN Cuba revealed that a US-based Cuba solidarity coalition was giving orders to their far-left revolutionaries embedded within the US to prepare rapid-response protests at US federal buildings, military bases, recruitment centers, and ICE facilities in the event of a military confrontation between the US military and the communist regime in Havana. As we've seen before, these protests tend to turn into riots, especially at ICE facilities.

🚨 PRIMERO EN ADN | Documentos revisados por ADN Cuba revelan un plan nacional de “respuesta rápida” distribuido por la Red Nacional sobre Cuba (NNOC), una coalición con vínculos documentados con el ICAP, para coordinar protestas contra oficinas de ICE, bases militares y…

— ADNCuba - Noticias de Cuba (@CubaAdn) July 8, 2026

On Monday...

Cox Media Heir Turned Communist Financier Arrested In Spain, Faces US Extradition https://t.co/1q8Z4MD6Cs

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) July 14, 2026

Related:

Meanwhile....

All of this comes ahead of Secretary of State Marco Rubio's planned meeting Thursday with delegations from more than 70 countries to address what the State Department describes as "the resurgence of transnational far-left terrorism," suggesting the Trump administration is preparing to treat these networks as a coordinated international security threat rather than a series of isolated domestic movements. 

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/15/2026 - 06:55
Tyler Durden

Can Britain's Next Prime Minister Escape The Net-Zero Trap?

Zero Rss
4 weeks 1 day ago
Can Britain's Next Prime Minister Escape The Net-Zero Trap?

Authored by Diana Furchtgott-Roth via Civitas Outlook,

Andy Burnham has a chance to restore sanity to British politics by choosing domestic production over Chinese renewables.

Britain is suffering from disruptions in both weather and politics as a heat wave grips a country where only four percent of homes have air conditioning. Sir Keir Starmer has resigned as Labour Prime Minister, and former Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, elected earlier this month as MP from Makerfield, is slated to replace him.

Since former Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May signed Britain up to the amended Climate Change Act in 2019, a binding law requiring a 100 percent reduction in emissions by 2050 compared to 1990 levels, Britain has had five Prime Ministers. This outpaces Italy, which has had three, long the byword for political instability in the Western world.

After Mrs. May herself, Britain cycled through Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak, and now Sir Keir—none of them popular, none of them successful, all of them departing under economic pressure and in failure. This general dissatisfaction is not a coincidence, but linked to higher energy prices, which reduce growth and employment.

But today’s disruptions could be useful if Sir Keir’s resignation opened a window for Britain to reset its energy policy. Mr. Burnham, dubbed the King of the North, has already signaled that he wants affordable power and British jobs, especially in Britain’s north.

In his victory speech after winning his return to Parliament, Mr. Burnham declared:

“We do need to bring down water bills, energy bills, rail fares, just as we brought down bus fares in Greater Manchester, to make life more affordable for people.”

If he means it, energy is the place to start.

Britain pays 42 cents per kilowatt-hour for electricity. Germany, Europe’s other great champion of the green transition, pays 43 cents. The United States, which has no national Net Zero law, pays 20 cents, less than half. Almost every EU country with binding emissions targets pays above 30 cents.

European policy choices have mandated expensive generation, loaded green levies onto bills, and prematurely wound down reliable conventional power. The Brits are paying a Net Zero surcharge on every unit of electricity they consume, every single day, with no measurable effect on global temperatures in 2100. And Britain’s wind and solar dependency funnels money to Chinese state-subsidized manufacturers and workers rather than British ones.

This means slower UK growth. Since the end of 2019, before the pandemic, the United States has recorded total GDP growth of 15.1 percent, compared to just 6 percent for the UK. Forecasts offer little comfort: the OECD projects UK growth of just 0.8 percent in 2026, against 2.3 percent for the United States. Countries with the highest electricity prices are growing the slowest.

And it’s not like Britain is getting top value for its money. Two weeks ago, temperatures above 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit) reduced the efficiency of UK solar panels, and a lack of wind stalled the wind turbines. With electricity demand running at about 36 gigawatts, Britain had to import 20 percent of its electricity from the European Union.

The good news is that Mr. Burnham, with his flexible views, can take a different path.

Britain is not a resource-poor nation forced to depend on foreign suppliers, but a resource-rich nation that has chosen dependency through planning rules, regulatory obstruction, and a Net Zero framework that treats domestic oil and gas production as a moral failing rather than a strategic necessity.

In the short run, Britain could produce more North Sea oil and gas and approve stalled domestic natural gas projects. In the long run, Britain could speed up permitting for nuclear power plants, including new technologies such as floating nuclear reactors in harbors, as proposed by the British company Core Power.

Britain now imports oil and gas from Norway rather than allowing British workers to be well paid to extract them from the same North Sea—and pay taxes on the earnings. While Britain sits on the sidelines, Norway’s Equinor is raising output projections for the Norwegian continental shelf due to technological improvements and rising demand.

Mr. Burnham can move forward with offshore projects in the North Sea and North Atlantic totaling between 157,000 and 162,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day, with combined lifetime recoverable reserves ranging from 560 million to 920 million barrels of oil equivalent. Ithaca Energy’s Cambo project and Adura’s Rosebank and Jackdaw fields are all currently awaiting approval.

Adura estimates that Rosebank and Jackdaw will generate almost $38 billion in gross value added over their lifespans, generate almost $2 billion in tax revenues before the end of the current Parliament in 2029, and support 3,500 jobs.

In addition, the Gainsborough Trough, a major sedimentary basin between Lincolnshire and South Yorkshire, holds about 16 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas, equivalent to 2,750 million barrels of oil. With hydrofracturing, it could power Britain for ten years and create a quarter of a million jobs. Egdon Resources has long wanted to develop it, and no government funds would be needed.

Using these domestic resources would create well-paying jobs in northern communities that have seen manufacturing and mining decline over decades—precisely the area that Mr. Burnham wants to win from Reform.

To achieve Mr. Burnham’s desired growth, the government must remove the planning restrictions, the moratorium on hydraulic fracturing, and the regulatory framework that makes hydrocarbon investment impossible. Mr. Burnham needs to say plainly that Britain’s growth matters more than the approval of green lobbying groups.

The question is whether Mr. Burnham will move Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Ed Miliband to the coveted position of Chancellor of the Exchequer. Miliband has been the defining force in Sir Keir’s Cabinet against developing a realistic energy policy.

Mr. Miliband now presides over the planning regime that blocks hydrocarbon development, and it is his ideology, the belief that Britain can lead the world to Net Zero by making itself dependent on foreign energy while foreigners burn their own, that keeps British electricity rates among the highest in the world.

If Mr. Miliband were promoted to Chancellor of the Exchequer, he would oversee balancing the budget, or at least minimizing the deficit, and he might see energy production in an entirely different light. As current Chancellor Rachel Reeves has discovered, raising taxes and taking away senior citizens’ winter fuel credits are unpopular options (and may cost her her position).

Unfortunately, Mr. Burnham has floated the idea of nationalizing energy companies and other public infrastructure, even though money would have to be borrowed, taxed, or diverted from other priorities. Public ownership of expensive infrastructure would not achieve Mr. Burnham’s objective of lowering prices. The history of state-owned enterprises in Britain, reversed by former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, is a history of inefficiency, underinvestment, and costs ultimately borne by taxpayers. What Mr. Burnham needs is private investment in cheap domestic production.

Energy is foundational to economic growth and to the costs of manufacturing, transportation, heating, and food production and storage. When governments require shifts from cheaper to more expensive energy options (such as from fossil fuels to more expensive renewables), they raise energy costs across the entire economy. Higher energy costs result in higher prices for goods and services, squeezing household budgets and eroding real wages.

Businesses facing higher power bills invest less, hire fewer workers, and, in some cases, relocate to cheaper jurisdictions abroad. The result is an economy that grows more slowly than it should, generates fewer job opportunities than it could, and delivers lower living standards than voters expect. People pay more for electricity and gas, groceries, and gasoline. And they take it out on whoever is leading the country. In Britain, this is the Prime Minister.

For years, Britain has turned its back on its own hydrocarbon wealth in pursuit of wind and solar targets that have driven up bills, exported jobs, and left the country dependent on imported LNG priced by global markets. The paradox is glaring: Britain sits atop significant untapped gas reserves yet pays premium prices for fuel shipped from abroad.

The economics are straightforward. North Sea drilling and domestic gas development are cheaper than the combined cost of offshore wind, grid expansion, and the battery storage needed to cover the days the wind doesn’t blow. Every pound spent on domestic production is a pound that stays in Britain, is taxed in Britain, and is employed in Britain rather than enriching foreign exporters.

Burnham says he wants to be the voice of the North. Here is his chance to prove it. An energy policy built around private investment in domestic production, lower bills, and British jobs recognizes that the transition must work for working people, not just for the investment banks financing wind farms.

Reform is siphoning off votes from both Labour and the Conservatives because it speaks to the cost of living in terms voters recognize. Mr. Burnham can occupy that ground without abandoning Labour’s broader commitments, simply by insisting that British energy for British homes comes before imported energy at any price.

Partly due to the costs of its Net Zero laws, Britain has burned through five Prime Ministers and is paying some of the highest electricity prices in the world. The King of the North has a chance to change that if he chooses a different path.

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/15/2026 - 06:30
Tyler Durden

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