ASML, the Dutch company that makes every extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography scanner used for leading-edge chips, reported record third-quarter results from Veldhoven, the Netherlands, on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026. Net sales were €11.66 billion, net income was €4.96 billion and gross margin was 57.5%. ASML also said that because of AI-driven orders, its supply "as currently planned for both 2027 and 2028 will not fully meet the demand of our customers."

ASML Q3 2026 by the numbers

  • Net sales: €11,662 million, up from €9,326 million in Q2. CEO Christophe Fouquet called it "a record."
  • Net income: €4,960 million. MarketBeat's summary of the earnings call says that includes about €500 million from a higher valuation of ASML's stake in Mistral AI.
  • Systems: 113 new and 8 used lithography systems sold. Net system sales were €8.4 billion, including €4.1 billion of EUV systems, one of them a High-NA EUV machine.
  • Service and upgrades: Installed Base Management sales of €3.3 billion, above guidance.
  • Versus forecasts: CNBC reported net profit beat the €4.1 billion analysts expected, while sales came in just under the expected €11.72 billion.

Outlook: Q4 guidance and a full-year raise

ASML expects fourth-quarter sales of €14.2 billion to €15.2 billion with a gross margin around 57%. It now expects 2026 sales of €44 billion to €45 billion; Reuters reported the earlier outlook was at least €43 billion. MarketBeat's call summary puts the implied growth at about 36% from 2025.

Why ASML says it can't build enough

"Our customers continue to increase their short- and medium-term equipment demand forecasts with us, driven primarily by their views on the size and duration of AI-related investments," Fouquet said in the results release. "Some customers are expressing an interest in placing orders with us for 2029 and even 2030."

In July, ASML said it planned to raise low-NA EUV and DUV immersion capacity 30% in 2027 and was studying a further 30% for 2028. It now says that won't be enough and is "investigating ways to increase capacity for 2028 beyond the 30% increase." According to MarketBeat's call summary, ASML expects to ship about 65 low-NA EUV systems this year, against 44 in 2025, and has not yet accepted orders for 2029 and 2030 while it works out how to share out capacity.

Prices are going up as well. CFO Roger Dassen said pricing talks with customers have produced increases on ASML's most critical high-volume tools, starting to count in 2027 with the full effect from 2028, according to MarketBeat and Reuters. A faster EUV scanner, the NXE:3800F at 260 wafers an hour, is due in small numbers in early 2027.

What it means for Tesla

Terafab, the Texas chip project Tesla is building with SpaceX and xAI, needs exactly these machines. As we reported earlier today, Tom's Hardware, citing Tim Culpan, says Terafab's first ASML EUV scanner, a conventional NXE-series tool, is due in mid-2027. ASML is now telling investors that 2027 and 2028 are the years its supply falls short of demand and its prices start rising. ASML did not mention Terafab, Tesla or any specific customer delivery in its results. Neither Tesla, SpaceX nor ASML has confirmed the reported Terafab timeline. Follow it on our Terafab tracker, and listen for chip-supply questions on Tesla's Q3 earnings call on Oct. 21.

This is news coverage, not investment advice.