VELDHOVEN, the Netherlands, April 18, 2012 - ASML Holding NV (ASML) today publishes 2012 first quarter results.
Q1 confirms ASML is on track for EUR 2.4 billion net sales in first half 2012
Net sales expected to be stable in Q3 at H1 levels
Q1 2012 Q4 2011
Net sales 1,252 1,211
...of which service and field option sales 202 218
New systems sold (units) 47 35
Used systems sold (units) 5 6

Net bookings, excluding EUV 865 710
Net bookings, excluding EUV (units) 36 37
ASP of booked systems, excluding EUV 24.0 19.2
Systems backlog, excluding EUV 1,598 1,733
Systems backlog, excluding EUV (units) 56 71
Gross margin excluding EUV 43.3% 42.4%
Gross margin 41.8% 41.0%

End-quarter cash and cash equivalents 2,953 2,732
Net income 282 285
EPS (in euro) 0.68 0.69
(Figures in millions of euros unless otherwise indicated)

First Quarter 2012 Highlights
A TWINSCAN NXT:1950i has surpassed the productivity milestone of more than 4,500 wafers in a single day at a customer manufacturing site, just six months after we set the record of more than 4,000 wafers per day.
As part of our Holistic Lithography portfolio, our computational lithography unit Brion introduced Tachyon Flexible Mask Optimization (Tachyon FMO) which enables the seamless use of multiple Optical Proximity Correction (OPC) techniques in a single mask tapeout.
Of our new Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography platform, all six NXE:3100 systems are now operational and printing wafers; the revenue for the sixth system installed in Q1 2012 was recognized in Q1 2012, one quarter earlier than expected.
The number of exposed wafers on NXE:3100 systems increased to about 9,000 wafers.
The NXE:3100 systems have achieved on-product overlay of 6 nm as well as dedicated chuck overlay of less than 2 nm.
An EUV light source supplier has demonstrated 30 Watts at a high duty cycle with acceptable dose control for a sustained period of time. In addition, it demonstrated 50 Watts of raw power, successfully applying pre-pulse technology.
Assembly and integration of our new NXE:3300B EUV scanners - the volume production successor of the NXE:3100 - is ongoing, with first shipment expected in the fourth quarter of 2012 and revenue recognition expected starting early in 2013; to date a total of 11 NXE:3300B systems have been ordered; semiconductor device production using EUV is expected to begin in 2013.
Outlook
"Our financial results in the first quarter were in line with guidance, supporting our expectation for first half 2012 net sales of about EUR 2.4 billion. We see sales stability at current Q1 levels for the next two quarters with clear indications that the Logic segment will continue its strong demand trend for the remainder of the year," said Eric Meurice, President and Chief Executive Officer of ASML. "The sales trend is driven mainly by demand from Foundries and Integrated Device Manufacturers (IDMs), which will represent the majority of our sales in the next two quarters. The demand for 28 nanometer (nm) from this Logic segment continues to be large and structural; it will be accompanied by the start of pre-production capacity for 20 nm. Later in the year, we expect to see technology demand for sub-20 nm NAND memory and sub-30 nm DRAM memory. Our sales will come mainly from TWINSCAN NXT:1950i immersion technology and will be complemented by a sustained KrF capacity build in Logic as the new nodes require the capacity build-up of the full range of layers. Our EUV technology has made significant progress as evidenced by the press release highlights: we continue to improve the efficiency of the system to reach our objective of 60 wafers per hour in the second half of 2012. We are preparing the shipments of the first 11 production systems on order, the NXE:3300B, from Q4 2012 to the summer of 2013. These units will serve our customers in their production recipe development. We have now started the negotiation of a new batch of orders for EUV systems, targeted mainly for customer production ramps," Meurice said.
For the second quarter 2012, ASML expects net sales of about EUR 1.2 billion, gross margin of about 43 percent, R&D costs at EUR 145 million and SG&A costs at EUR 55 million.
Update on share buy back program
As part of ASML's policy to return excess cash to shareholders through dividend and regularly timed share buy backs, ASML has announced its intention to purchase up to EUR 1,130 million of its own shares in the two year period 2011-2012. Since the start of this program in 2011 up to April 1, 2012 ASML has purchased 29.8 million shares for a total consideration of EUR 839.2 million. The repurchased shares have been, or will be cancelled.
Furthermore, ASML has announced its intention to purchase up to 2.2 million of additional shares during 2012 for the purpose of covering outstanding employee stock and stock option plans. These shares will be held as treasury shares pending delivery pursuant to such plans. Up to April 1, 2012 no shares had yet been purchased under this program.
Both share buy back programs will be executed within the limitations of the existing authority granted by the AGM on April 20, 2011 and, if granted, of the authority proposed to future AGMs. Both share buy back programs may be suspended, modified or discontinued at any time. All transactions under these programs are published on ASML's website (www.asml.com/investors) on a weekly basis.