Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)
Almere, The Netherlands
April 29, 2025, 6 p.m. CET
Solid start of the year, Q1 sales supported by continued AI-related strength
ASM International N.V. (Euronext Amsterdam: ASM) today reports its Q1 2025 results (unaudited).
Financial highlights
| € million | Q1 2024 | Q4 2024 | Q1 2025 |
| New orders | 697.9 | 731.4 | 834.2 |
| yoy change % at constant currencies | 10% | 8% | 14% |
| Revenue | 639.0 | 809.0 | 839.2 |
| yoy change % at constant currencies | (8%) | 27% | 26% |
| Gross profit | 337.8 | 407.2 | 447.8 |
| Gross profit margin % | 52.9 % | 50.3 % | 53.4 % |
| Operating result | 187.1 | 222.3 | 266.2 |
| Operating result margin % | 29.3 % | 27.5 % | 31.7 % |
| Adjusted operating result 1 | 191.8 | 227.0 | 271.0 |
| Adjusted operating result margin %1 | 30.0 % | 28.1 % | 32.3 % |
| Net earnings (losses) | 173.1 | 225.8 | (28.9) |
| Adjusted net earnings 1 | 178.9 | 231.5 | 191.9 |
1 Adjusted figures are non-IFRS performance measures. Refer to Annex 3 for a reconciliation of non-IFRS performance measures.
- New orders of €834 million in Q1 2025 increased by 14% over the same period last year at constant currency (increased by 20% as reported), supported by strong GAA 2nm orders, and a relatively solid contribution from the Chinese market in the quarter.
- Revenue of €839 million increased by 26% at constant currencies (increased by 31% as reported) from Q1 of last year, above the midpoint of the guidance (€810-850 million).
- Gross profit margin increased to 53.4%, up from both Q1 of last year (52.9%) and up from prior quarter (50.3%). The increase compared to prior quarter was driven by a favorable product and customer mix.
- Adjusted operating result margin of 32.3% is an improvement of 2.3% points compared to the same period last year, and an increase by 4.2% points compared to the previous quarter. This was mainly due to higher gross profit margin and moderated operating expenses (with year-on-year SG&A reducing from 11.4% to 9.1% as a percentage of revenue).
- Our reported net results included an impairment of €215 million from our stake in ASMPT, triggered by the reduced market valuation in the recent period. There is no cash impact. Following the impairment, and in line with our accounting policy, the changes in the market value of ASMPT will be included in our quarterly net results in case of further decline or until the impairment charge has been reversed.
Comment
“ASM continued to deliver strong results in the first quarter of 2025. Sales increased by 26% at constant currencies, to €839 million, which was above the midpoint of our €810-850 million guidance,” said Hichem M’Saad, CEO of ASM. “The year-on-year increase was largely driven by robust sales in the leading-edge logic/foundry segment as leading customers continued moving towards high-volume manufacturing of the 2nm gate-all-around (GAA) node.
Market conditions continued to be mixed in the first quarter. Demand in the AI-related segments, including leading-edge logic/foundry and DRAM HBM memory, remained strong, while most of the other market segments remained sluggish. Bookings increased to €834 million in Q1 2025, up 14% year-on-year at constant currencies. Strong GAA orders, healthy demand from memory customers, especially for HBM-related DRAM applications, and solid demand from Chinese customers mainly contributed to the solid bookings. The cash position increased to a strong level of slightly more than €1.1 billion on the back of robust free cash flow of €264 million.
The gross margin increased to a high level of 53.4%, largely driven by product and customer mix. The gross margin also benefited from ongoing cost reduction programs. For the full year 2025, we now expect the gross margin to be in the upper half of the target range of 46%-50%. This excludes any potential direct impact from tariffs, which at this point is difficult to predict. We have prepared various scenarios to mitigate potential financial impact, leveraging our global supply chain capabilities and diversified manufacturing operations in combination with passing on impact into the value chain.”
Outlook
Global trade tensions and recent announcements of reciprocal tariffs have increased macroeconomic uncertainty. It is too early to tell what the impact on GDP and the semiconductor market will be. So far, our discussions with key customers have not materially changed.
We expect our sales in 2025 to grow by a double-digit percentage range of a 10-20% year on year, at constant currencies, and ahead of the WFE market, which is forecast to grow slightly this year. While we have reasonable visibility that we will achieve the lower end of the range, achieving the higher end will require some upside opportunities to materialize which at this point is still uncertain. In view of the recently increased exchange rate volatility and ASM’s significant US$ revenue exposure (>80% of sales) we decided to change our guidance from absolute Euro amounts to growth rates at constant currencies.
For Q2 2025 we expect sales to increase compared to Q1 by a range of +1% to +6% at constant currencies. This implies continued double-digit year-on-year sales growth in Q2 2025 at constant currencies.
We continue to be confident that our gate-all-around sales will increase strongly in 2025. Supported by robust HBM-related DRAM demand, we expect healthy memory sales in full year 2025, albeit lower than the very strong level in 2024. The power/analog/wafer market is still in a cyclical downturn and the outlook for this segment has further weakened for the rest of the year.
Underpinned by strong R&D engagements, we believe ASM remains well positioned in the coming years to benefit from increasing ALD and Epi intensity with the transition to a tighter and more complex device architecture in logic with GAA and in DRAM with 4F2.
Annual General Meeting
On March 27, 2025, ASM published the agenda, convocation, and other materials for the 2025 Annual General Meeting (AGM), to be held on May 12, 2025, in Almere, which as also earlier announced, includes, amongst other things, resolutions on:
- the annual accounts of 2024;
- the remuneration report 2024;
- the proposal to declare a regular dividend of €3.00 (three euros) per common share;
- the reappointment of Mr. Verhagen (for two years) as member of the Management Board;
- the reappointment of Ms. Van der Meer Mohr (for four years), Mr. Sanchez (for four years) and Ms. Kahle-Galonske (for one year) as members of the Supervisory Board;
- the appointment of EY Accountants B.V. as auditor to audit the annual accounts for the financial year 2026 and as assurance provider of sustainability information for the financial years 2025 and 2026.
Please refer to the AGM documents available on our website for more detailed information.
Share buyback program
In our Q4 press release, ASM announced that the Management Board has authorized a new share repurchase program of up to €150 million of the company’s common shares for the 2025/2026 period. As announced in a separate press release today, the share buyback program will start on April 30, 2025.
About ASM
ASM International N.V., headquartered in Almere, the Netherlands, and its subsidiaries design and manufacture equipment and process solutions to produce semiconductor devices for wafer processing, and have facilities in the United States, Europe, and Asia. ASM International’s common stock trades on the Euronext Amsterdam Stock Exchange (symbol: ASM). For more information, visit ASM’s website at www.asm.com.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: All matters discussed in this press release, except for any historical data, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. These include, but are not limited to, economic conditions and trends in the semiconductor industry generally and the timing of the industry cycles specifically, currency fluctuations, corporate transactions, financing and liquidity matters, the success of restructurings, the timing of significant orders, market acceptance of new products, competitive factors, litigation involving intellectual property, shareholders or other issues, commercial and economic disruption due to natural disasters, terrorist activity, armed conflict or political instability, changes in import/export regulations, pandemics, epidemics and other risks indicated in the company’s reports and financial statements. The company assumes no obligation nor intends to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect future developments or circumstances.
This press release contains inside information within the meaning of Article 7(1) of the EU Market Abuse Regulation.
Quarterly earnings conference call details
ASM will host the quarterly earnings conference call and webcast on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, at 3:00 p.m. CET. Conference-call participants should pre-register using this link to receive the dial-in numbers, passcode and a personal PIN, which are required to access the conference call.
A simultaneous audio webcast and replay will be accessible at this link.
| Contacts | |
| Investor and media relations | Investor relations |
| Victor Bareño | Valentina Fantigrossi |
| T: +31 88 100 8500 | T: +31 88 100 8502 |
| E: investor.relations@asm.com | E: investor.relations@asm.com |
