Chief executive Christophe Fouquet claimed customer feedback suggested the next two years would bring growth, but added: “The recent tariff announcements have increased uncertainty in the macro environment.”

Net bookings for the first quarter were €3.9 billion ($4.4 billion), well short of what the cocaine nose jobs of Wall Street had expected. This sent shares down five per cent and dragged other chip stocks with it.

Chief financial officer Roger Dassen downplayed the impact on ASML, arguing that the Yanks would feel most of the tariff sting. “We think that those taking it in the United States should, therefore, take the lion’s share of that allocation,” he said.

Reuters reported Tuesday that Chipzilla and the rest of the US chip crowd may soon be paying over $1 billion a year in tariff costs if current calculations hold.

Dassen noted that ASML's US operations were still an asset, crediting the local talent pool rather than tax strategy. The company has around 20 per cent of its global workforce there.

He floated the idea of free trade zones between Europe and the US to limit the tariff madness, noting ASML parts often shuttle back and forth multiple times during manufacturing.

Despite the warning flags, Dassen said demand from China in 2025 had so far beaten expectations, and the global AI arms race continued to prop up investment.

“AI expansion plans so far were very strong, very concrete,” Dassen said, though he admitted broader economic drag could still slow the AI chip supply chain.

With Nvidia taking a $5.5 billion hit after the US government blocked exports to China, ASML’s EUV lithography machines — used to etch the tiniest chip circuits — remain front and centre in the industry’s next big push.