World's biggest supplier of computer chip-making equipment ASML warns of flat growth for 2026; CEO says: We cannot ...

Trump tariffs and geopolitical uncertainty are hurting businesses globally. The world's biggest supplier of computer chip-making equipment --

ASML

has warned that it may not achieve growth in 2026. The warning from one of the biggest Europe's company comes despite its second quarter bookings beat market expectations. ASML's EUV lithography machines are said to be the world's most advanced chip circuit printing system, is the key enabling technology behind leading-edge chips like those used in Nvidia's GPUs, or Apple's Macs and iPhones.Analysts had hoped that the quarter would provide some reassurance over its outlook for 2026. However, the company warned that geopolitical uncertainty continued to cloud its prospects. If this happens, 2026 would be the first flat year in over a decade of uninterrupted revenue growth since 2012.

What ASML CEO said

ASML's chief executive Christophe Fouquet said in an internal interview published on the company's website, "The level of uncertainty is increasing, mostly due to macroeconomic and geopolitical consideration. And that includes, of course, tariffs.""While we still prepare for growth in 2026, we cannot confirm it at this stage", Fouquet said in a statement. According to the Reuters report, the Dutch group's net bookings, the most closely watched figure in the industry, were 5.54 billion euros ($6.4 billion). That was ahead of analysts' consensus estimate of 4.44 billion euros, according to researcher Visible Alpha.

Investors say, they not worried

ASML investor Han Dieperink, chief investment officer at investment firm Aureus told Reuters that he was not worried about the upcoming year, noting that the quarter pointed to solid demand. "The second quarter beats from top to bottom", analyst Michael Roeg of Degroof Petercam said. Roeg cited strong demand from artificial intelligence related chipmakers.