FILE PHOTO: ASML logo is seen at a building near the headquarters in Veldhoven, Netherlands June 16, 2023. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo
Eindhoven, NETHERLANDS (Reuters) -Shrugging off fears prompted by Chinese AI firm DeepSeek, Dutch computer chip equipment maker ASML on Wednesday reported better than expected fourth-quarter bookings of 7.088 billion euros ($7.39 billion), on strong demand for its advanced tools.
Analysts had predicted bookings at 3.99 billion euros, according to polling by Visible Alpha, an increase from 2.63 billion euros in the third quarter of 2024.
The large order influx may reassure ASML and other chip stock investors that AI chip prospects remain healthy, despite a selloff this week sparked by the release of DeepSeek's model, which uses less computing power than those of rivals.
"The growth in artificial intelligence is the key driver for growth in our industry," ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet said in a statement.
DeepSeek's launch has called into question whether tech giants, including Google, Microsoft, Meta and Amazon, will need to follow through on plans for huge investments in AI chips. ASML's top customer, TSMC, manufactures most chips designed by Nvidia and the software firms.
ASML reported fourth quarter net income of 2.7 billion euros on sales of 9.3 billion euros, rising from 2.1 billion euros of net income on sales of 7.5 billion euros in the third quarter of 2024.
The numbers beat expectations "from bookings to bottom line," said Michael Roeg, an analyst for Degroof Petercam. He cautioned that ASML is "too far from the fire" to really be able to answer whether DeepSeek's advent marks a major change in market trends.
"That is for the large data centre operators to answer in their conference calls, and for Nvidia to answer in their conference call," he said.
($1 = 0.9579 euros)
(Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Gerry Doyle)
