VELDHOVEN, the Netherlands, 15 April 2015 - ASML Holding N.V. (ASML) today publishes its 2015 first-quarter results.
- Q1 net sales of EUR 1.65 billion, gross margin 47.2 percent
- ASML guides Q2 2015 net sales at around EUR 1.6 billion and a gross margin of around 45 percent
(Figures in millions of euros unless otherwise indicated)
Q4 2014 Q1 2015
Net sales 1,494 1,650
...of which service and field option sales 409 403
Other income (Co-Investment Program) 20 21
New systems sold (units) 30 39
Used systems sold (units) 5 8
Average Selling Price (ASP) of net system sales 31.0 26.5
Net bookings* 1,387 1,028
Systems backlog * 2,772 2,602
Gross profit 657 779
Gross margin (%) 44.0 47.2
Net income 305 403
EPS (basic; in euro) 0.70 0.93
End-quarter cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments 2,754 2,839

*) As of Q4 2014 our net bookings and systems backlog include NXE:3350B orders. For the definition of our net bookings and systems backlog see footnote 4 of our US GAAP Consolidated Financial Statements.

CEO Statement
"Our first-quarter net sales came in as guided at 1.65 billion euros, driven by continued strong DRAM memory segment sales in combination with higher foundry segment sales. Our gross margin rose to 47.2 percent, a reflection of product mix as well as better utilization of our production facilities, which was partly offset by unfavorable foreign exchange effects. Our Q2 guidance of around 1.6 billion euros of net sales confirms our earlier expectation that the first half of 2015 will be stronger than the second half of 2014. In memory, our Q1 sales and order book suggest that sales to the DRAM segment will stay healthy in 2015, although more weighted to the first half of the year. In logic, we expect stable sales throughout 2015. Our service and field options sales will likely increase over coming quarters as we benefit from increased adoption of our Holistic Lithography products and the purchase of system node enhancement packages supporting customer node migrations," ASML President and Chief Executive Officer Peter Wennink said.

"Regarding our EUV program, our focus for 2015 is to continue the recent encouraging progress on source power and productivity, to increase stability and availability of the systems as well as to ship our fourth-generation EUV system, the NXE:3350B."

Q1 Product Highlights
Exposed more than 1000 wafers in a 24-hour period on a NXE:3300B
EUV source power upgrade is being rolled out to multiple customer sites
Our Overlay and Focus Package for the TWINSCAN NXT:1970Ci, which improves focus uniformity by up to 30 percent and matched machine overlay by more than 30 percent, experienced good adoption by logic customers
First orders received for next-generation TWINSCAN NXT:1980Ci immersion tool, aimed at production of critical layers for the next advanced logic nodes.

Outlook
For the second quarter of 2015, ASML expects net sales of around EUR 1.6 billion, a gross margin of around 45 percent, R&D costs of about EUR 265 million, other income of about EUR 21 million -- which consists of contributions from participants of the Customer Co-Investment Program --, SG&A costs of about EUR 85 million and an effective tax rate of approximately 11 percent.

Update Share Buyback Program
As part of ASML's policy to return excess cash to shareholders through dividend and regularly timed share buybacks, ASML has announced its intention to purchase up to EUR 750 million of shares, which it intends to cancel upon repurchase. In addition, ASML announced its intention to purchase up to 3.3 million shares to cover employee stock and stock option plans (ESOPs). Through 29 March 2015, ASML has acquired 1.4 million shares under this program for a total consideration of EUR 129 million.These shares have been purchased to cover ESOPs. The share buyback program will be executed within the limitations of the existing authority granted by the AGM on April 23, 2014 and of the authority granted at future AGMs. The share buyback program may be suspended, modified or discontinued at any time. All transactions under this program will be published on ASML's website (www.asml.com/investors) on a weekly basis.


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