ASML today reported its Q3 2026 financial results, with gross revenue totaling €11.7 billion, a gross margin of 57.5%, and a net income of €5.0 billion. ASML also provided updates on its system sales by region, revealing that shipments to China have become one of its strongest areas for system sales. Chinese semiconductor manufacturers are rushing to stockpile more tools. In the previous Q2, net system sales to China accounted for 14% of ASML's sales. In the latest Q3, this figure has grown to 23%, nearly a quarter of all ASML's system sales. In Q3, Taiwan remains the largest buyer of ASML equipment at 32%, followed by South Korea at 31%. China takes third place with 23%, and the United States follows with 13%.

The strong demand from China is reportedly due to Chinese memory and storage makers stockpiling enough lithography tools from ASML to support their expansion plans for the next three years, even if they are cut off from the supply chain. According to earlier reports, memory maker CXMT and storage giant YMTC have secured sufficient DUV lithography tools from ASML to support their growth plans for the next three years, despite increasing tensions and potential bans on exporting these older DUV tools to China. The United States government is reportedly pressuring the Dutch government to completely halt tool exports to China.In a new bipartisan bill called the Multilateral Alignment of Technology Controls on Hardware (MATCH) Act, the US government is considering forcing allied countries to implement a technological ban on exporting even the older DUV machines. This could mean that ASML might nearly cease all exposure to China, as the older DUV tools are targeted by US export restrictions. For ASML, this means that nearly one-quarter of its revenue source could disappear. Keep in mind that Chinese customers have long been banned from accessing EUV tools and are only relying on the older DUV machinery.