ASML Adds 1,400 Engineers While Cutting 1,700 Managers as €8.8 Billion Quarter Fuels Record Guidance

ASML shares dip on OpenAI growth miss, but Q1 revenue of €8.8B beats estimates. Memory chip orders surge, full-year guidance raised to €36-40B.

A single Wall Street Journal report about OpenAI missing its growth targets was enough to knock 3.3% off ASML's share price on Tuesday. The sell-off swept through the entire semiconductor sector, wiping out an 18-day winning streak in a matter of hours. OpenAI disputed the story, and prices recovered only partially.

The market logic ran as follows: if the leading AI developer reins in spending, data center operators and chip suppliers will follow suit. For ASML, that argument looks shaky. Whoever dominates the AI model race still needs high-performance chips, and those are almost exclusively manufactured on the Dutch company's extreme ultraviolet lithography machines.

The quarterly numbers tell a different story from the share price. ASML booked net sales of €8.8 billion in the first quarter of 2026, beating analyst expectations of €8.5 billion. Net profit came in at €2.8 billion, roughly €300 million above estimates. The gross margin hit 53%, landing at the top end of management's own forecast.

Management responded by lifting the full-year outlook. Revenue for 2026 is now expected to land between €36 billion and €40 billion, up from a previous range that started two billion euros lower. That implies growth of roughly 16% year-on-year.

Memory chips drove the outperformance. Revenue from that segment surged to €3.2 billion in the quarter, a 32% increase from a year earlier and the first time it has overtaken the logic chip business. SK Hynix and Samsung have each placed orders for EUV machines worth around $8 billion. TSMC, meanwhile, is planning capital expenditure at the top end of its $52 billion to $56 billion range, a 37% jump from last year.

Behind the strong order book, ASML is reshaping its workforce. Around 1,700 positions are being eliminated, representing roughly 4% of the global headcount. The cuts target middle management and coordination roles — group leaders and project managers — as the company flattens its hierarchy. At the same time, it is creating about 1,400 new engineering jobs focused on technical development. A six-week hiring freeze planned for the summer is meant to steady the organization during the transition.

Changes are also underway in the boardroom. Marco Pieters takes over as chief technology officer, while CFO Roger Dassen and operations chief Frédéric Schneider-Maunoury have secured contract extensions. The new leadership team faces the task of maintaining operational momentum. For the current quarter, management is guiding for revenue between €8.4 billion and €9.0 billion, with a slightly lower gross margin.

Shareholders approved the capital return plan at the annual general meeting in late April. A final dividend of €2.70 per share was authorized, bringing the total payout for the year to €7.50 — a significant increase from the prior year. The shares have been trading ex-dividend since April 27.

Despite Tuesday's setback, the stock has gained roughly 20% year-to-date and around 104% over the past twelve months. It closed the latest session at €1,192, well above the 52-week low of €584.40 set in April 2025. The 50-day moving average sits just above the current price at €1,202.

Whether the sell-off was justified may become clearer in the coming days. Microsoft, Amazon, Meta and Alphabet are all due to report quarterly results this week. Their capital spending plans for AI infrastructure will reveal whether spending discipline is genuinely softening — or whether Tuesday was simply a mood swing.