Does a new chip cycle beckon? Record fourth-quarter orders of €9.2bn at ASML, the Dutch manufacturer of chipmaking equipment, suggests a new boom may be on the horizon at long last.

The $304bn company has successfully navigated the post-pandemic chip glut and east-west tensions. ASML makes the advanced lithography machines used to manufacture high-end semiconductors. In a year in which smartphone and PC inventories are slowly being sold down, and utilisation of other semiconductor manufacturing capacity depressed, ASML increased sales 30 per cent, to €27.6bn.  

That reflects its privileged market position. With long-lead orders for its machines far outstripping its capacity to manufacture them, ASML could boost its shipments even in a soft year.