ASML's IT Outage Affected Chipmaking Operations Worldwide

ASML Holding NV ASML faced a global IT outage on Friday that disrupted its operations across multiple facilities.

Bloomberg cites an ASML spokesperson as saying the issue began in the morning and was resolved by late afternoon.

Some employees had to work from home, and the outage also affected cleanrooms, offices, customer support, and supplier communications, Bloomberg cites Dutch newspaper Eindhovens Dagblad.

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The manufacturer of the advanced chipmaking equipment has launched an investigation into the cause of the disruption.

ASML is already battling the consequences of U.S.-China geopolitical tensions, which prompted it to restrict its technology to the Asian country as a U.S. ally.

ASML's CEO Christophe Fouquet sees increasing U.S. pressure to tighten chip technology sales to China, citing geopolitical tensions. China remains ASML's largest market, but most sales focus on mature chips rather than advanced AI semiconductors targeted by U.S. export controls.

The company holds a monopoly on producing machines that enable firms like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co TSM to create the most advanced chips used in devices from Apple Inc's AAPL smartphones to Nvidia Corp's NVDA AI processors.

Recent reports indicated Taiwan Semiconductor will procure advanced ASML lithography machines by year-end, each worth $350 million.

In October, ASML unintentionally released its financial results a day early due to a "technical error," which exacerbated the market reaction to its weaker performance, causing shares of ASML and other chipmakers to tumble.

ASML reported net sales of 7.5 billion euros for the third quarter, topping analysts' expectations of 7.12 billion euros.

Bookings for the quarter reached 2.6 billion euros, with 1.4 billion euros attributed to EUV systems.

For the fourth quarter, ASML projected net sales of 8.8 billion euros-9.2 billion euros, reaffirming its full-year guidance of approximately 28 billion euros in total sales.

ASML expects 2025 net sales to be 30 billion euros—35 billion euros, down from its previous outlook of 30 billion euros—40 billion euros.

ASML stock lost over 6% year-to-date.

Price Actions: ASML stock closed lower by 1.14% at $669.47 on Friday.

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