ASML Holding N.V. (ASML) has published its 2012 third-quarter results.

Net sales amounted to ASML €1229 million, of which €229 million was related to service and field option sales. The firm sold 32 new systems and 8 used systems in this quarter. ASML net bookings, excluding EUV were €831 million, a reduction compared to the €949 million from the previous quarter.

Net unit bookings were 33, down again from the 43 bookings in Q2 2012. ASP of booked systems, excluding EUV went up though, from €22.1 million of the last quarter, to €25.2 million in the latest quarter. Systems backlog reduced from the previous quarter to the latest quarter from 55 to 48 units.

Gross margin remained flat at 43.2%. Net income was €275 million, as compared to €292 million in Q2 2012. The EPS in EUROS (€) was 0.65, compared to 0.71 in the previous quarter.

Outlook

"We have performed as planned regarding third-quarter sales and profit, and expect fourth-quarter sales of about €1 billion, resulting in second-half sales at the lower end of our previous guidance of €2.2 to 2.4 billion, reflecting stable demand from the foundry and logic segments and very low expected sales of memory systems," said Eric Meurice, President and Chief Executive Officer of ASML.

"As we enter 2013, we recognise our customers' uncertainty regarding the underlying semiconductor demand for the tablet and smartphone segments, as well as for the PC business, which has not yet been accelerated by Windows 8 and the ultra-book form factor. We see, however, sustained demand from the logic sector as the planned 28nm node strategic build-up to a worldwide capacity of 300,000 wafer starts per month is expected to be achieved by mid-2013, and as the 22nm logic ramp will start in the second half of next year."

"Spending by memory customers is expected to remain subdued in the next two quarters. In addition to these fundamental market drivers, we anticipate the shipments of our first 11 NXE:3300B EUV systems that will help prepare our customers for the insertion of EUV in volume production lines by 2014, contributing to €700 million in revenues next year," Meurice added.

For the fourth quarter of 2012, ASML expects net sales of about €1 billion, a gross margin of about 41 percent, R&D costs of €155 million and SG&A costs of €64 million.

Third-Quarter 2012 Highlights

To date ASML has shipped more than 170 TWINSCAN NXT:1950i systems, its most advanced immersion scanner. More than 45 of these are capable of imaging 230 wafers per hour, and more than 90 immersion systems have exposed more than 1 million wafers within the last 12 month.

The firm's 6 pre-production EUV systems, called NXE:3100, have exposed more than 23,000 wafers at customer sites with good overlay and imaging performance, enabling semiconductor device recipe development and confirmation of infrastructure progress.

The successor system, the NXE:3300B, has shown overlay and imaging in a full-field single exposure within customer requirements.

Update on the Customer Co-Investment Program

During the third quarter, ASML announced a Customer Co-Investment Program and received approval from its shareholders.

Three customers - Intel, TSMC and Samsung - agreed to contribute €1.38 billion to ASML's research and development of next-generation lithography technologies over five years. This was specifically aimed at accelerating EUV lithography and 450mm lithography development.

The intended acquisition of Cymer is made easier by the Co-Investment Program and supports the same strategic goals, as it also targets to secure the semiconductor industry's transition to the next manufacturing technology. This is needed to create microchips with more functions at a lower cost and that are more energy-efficient, consistent with Moore's Law.

As part of the Customer Co-Investment Program, but separate from the R&D contribution, ASML received €3.02 billion for issuing shares to two of the three participating customers, Intel and Samsung, and expects to receive €838 million from TSMC on 31^st October. This cash will be returned to shareholders (excluding participating customers) via a Synthetic Buyback later this year.

Resuming share buyback program

 With the announcement of the Customer Co-Investment Program on 9^th July, 2012, ASML announced that it had suspended its regular share buyback programs.

The company now intends to resume these programs starting on 18^th October 2012, to complete the €1,130 million program started in 2011 with the remaining €160 million; these shares will be cancelled. What's more, up to 2.2 million shares remain to be purchased for the purpose of covering outstanding employee stock and stock option plans; these shares will be held as Treasury shares.