ASM International expects sales growth of 10%-20% despite tariff uncertainty
Ozan Elgenai
(Reuters) – Computer chip equipment maker ASM International (ASMI) said on Tuesday it expects annual sales to rise in certain currencies despite increased macroeconomic uncertainty due to trade tensions after reporting quarterly orders above last year’s levels.
The Dutch company expects sales to increase by 10% to 20% in 2025. It recorded first-quarter orders of 834.2 million euros ($950.99 million), compared to the previous year’s 697.9 million backed by the Chinese market.
“We have reasonable visibility to achieve the lower end of range, but achieving the high end requires some upside opportunities as it is still uncertain at this point,” the company said in a statement.
“We are expected to see the total margin in the upper half of the target range of 46%-50% in 2025,” CEO Hichem M’Saad said, adding that this would rule out the potential direct impacts from tariffs, which are currently difficult to predict.
The drastic tariffs and uncertainty over US President Donald Trump’s trade policy have sent global markets into tailspin and significantly dampened investors’ economic optimism.
The ASM said that global trade tensions and mutual tariff announcements have heightened macroeconomic uncertainty and it was too early to know about the impact on GDP and semiconductor markets.
Demand for AI-related segments remained strong, but most other segments remained slower, he added.
ASM customers, such as Chipmaker TSMC, have used their equipment to enable next-generation AI chips and have seen a boom in demand.
The weak demand for cars, PCs and memory chips is only partially offset by demand for AI chips, even before Trump’s previous and later announcements on tariffs.
Europe’s second-largest chip equipment supplier said it expects second-quarter sales to increase by 1% to 6% in certain currencies, starting from 839.2 million euros in the first quarter.
($1 = 0.8772 Euro)
(Reporting by Ozan Ergenay of Gdansk; Editing by Emelia Site-Matarise, Joe Bavier, and Cynthia Osterman)