ASML is not producing behind the demand for its chip machines.

"We continue to see that the demand for our systems exceeds our current production capacity," said CEO Peter Wennink on Wednesday when the figures for the first quarter were published.

One tries to counter this with more productivity and faster production cycles.

Wennink also hinted that the group from the south of the Netherlands is likely to raise its long-term forecast soon: “In light of demand and our plans to increase capacity, we expect to reassess our scenarios for 2025 and growth opportunities beyond .” We plan to provide information on this in the second half of the year.

Klaus Max Smolka

Editor in Business.

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The rising company, which emerged from the Philips group, supplies the semiconductor industry with machines for chip production - and has a technical monopoly in the latest generation.

It benefits from the sharp rise in demand from the semiconductor industry.

With a market value of 244 billion euros, it is the second heaviest in the leading European index, the Euro Stoxx 50, behind the luxury goods supplier LVMH – and twice as heavy as the German IT provider SAP.

In the business of the first three months, the chip supplier slightly exceeded the expectations of stock market traders.

In the first quarter there were 3.5 billion euros in sales and 695 million euros in net profit.

Analysts had expected a profit of 621 million euros with revenues of 3.3 to 3.5 billion euros.

Sales were well below the previous year's figure - but according to management, this has to do with a new test and delivery policy: ASML delivers its large machines, each of which costs a three-digit million euro amount, to the customer more quickly, and still does it there testing, delaying final acceptance;

this way sales will be recorded later.

ASML continued to report strong orders amid ongoing global semiconductor shortages.

"We're working very, very hard to address all the supply chain issues that everyone is dealing with," said Chief Financial Officer Roger Dassen.

Orders in the first three months were 7 billion euros.

For the second quarter, ASML announced sales of 5.1 to 5.3 billion euros and confirmed the forecast for sales growth of 20 percent for the year as a whole.

By late afternoon, the stock was up around 6 percent.