ASML shares slump 5% on uncertainty over U.S. import tariffs, annual projections

Computer chip machinery company ASML is sticking to its annual projections despite the American import tariffs. The company from Veldhoven is still expecting a turnover of around 30 to 35 billion euros, but CEO Christophe Fouquet said Wednesday that the U.S. import tariffs have caused uncertainty. “And the situation will continue to be dynamic for a while,” he said when discussing the company’s quarterly figures. Shares in ASML proceeded to tumble 5.2 percent, landing at €574.00 when the Euronext Amsterdam trading day ended.

The number of new orders in the first quarter of the year dropped to a worth of just under four billion euros, compared to 7.1 billion euros in the last quarter of 2024. The fee was also lower than Bloomberg analysts had anticipated.

The company’s turnover was over 7.7 billion euros during that time, an increase of 46 percent in comparison to last year but a drop on the last quarter of last year. This was aligned with the company’s expectations.

Profitability rose as ASML sold a relatively large number of the most lucrative models of its advanced EUV machines and received a performance bonus from a customer. Net profit came to almost 2.4 billion euros.The quarterly update came several weeks after the President of the United States, Donald Trump, announced new import tariffs for almost all of the U.S. trade partners.

Machines that produce chips were exempt from these tariffs, but on Monday the U.S. government announced an investigation into the impact of importing these types of equipment on national security.

ASML thinks it is hard to anticipate the impact that the U.S. tariffs will have on their results. The company could be affected if specific tariffs are made for chip machines or parts that the Dutch company sends to the U.S.

Retaliatory tariffs could also affect ASML, because the company also sends parts and equipment to other countries via the U.S., said their Chief Financial Officer, Roger Dassen. The company could also be hit indirectly if trade tensions put pressure on the world’s economic growth and then lead to less investments into chip machine equipment.

The company said that although they are looking into options to limit the impact of the import tariffs as much as possible, they will not move their production to the U.S. “you don’t just do something like that in a few months, it takes years and there are easier ways to limit the impact.” Dassen said.

ASML get their parts from many other countries but they assemble their machines in the Netherlands. “A because the capacity is here, and B because the supply chain is here,” said Dassen.