ASML Holding NV, a Dutch semiconductor equipment maker, reported a record fourth quarter with total net sales reaching €9.3 billion, surpassing both its own and analysts' expectations. For the full year of 2024, ASML achieved net sales of €28.3 billion and a net income of €7.6 billion. The company's fourth-quarter bookings soared to €7.1 billion, significantly exceeding the analyst consensus of €3.5 billion. This surge was driven by strong demand for ASML's advanced chipmaking tools, particularly its extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines, which accounted for €3 billion of the bookings. ASML's CEO, Christophe Fouquet, attributed the growth to the increasing demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications, which he sees as a key driver for the semiconductor industry. Despite concerns sparked by the Chinese AI startup DeepSeek, which introduced a low-cost AI model, Fouquet remains optimistic, stating that lower-cost AI could lead to more applications and, consequently, higher demand for chips. ASML expects first-quarter 2025 sales to be between €7.5 billion and €8 billion, with a gross margin of 52% to 53%, and reiterated its full-year 2025 revenue outlook of €30 billion to €35 billion.