ASM International expects to exceed 2027 sales goal, supply chain key, CEO says

By Nathan Vifflin

Oct 28 (Reuters) - ASM International will exceed its 2027 sales forecast as "unprecedented" demand linked to AI boosts semiconductor investment, its chief executive said on Wednesday, though supply-chain constraints could cap the upside.

CEO Hichem M'Saad told Reuters in an interview that ASM would achieve more than €5.7 billion ($6.34 billion) in revenue in 2027, the forecast the Dutch company gave on Tuesday.

He said ASM had "very good visibility" on orders for 2027 and in some cases into 2028, and some customers had shared production roadmaps running to 2030.

"We're going to achieve greater than 5.7. How much greater in a way, it really depends on many factors. One of them is really the supply chain," M'Saad said, adding that parts of it were "a little bit stressed out".

M'Saad said ASM had enough manufacturing capacity of its own, but needed to secure parts and components. It had given suppliers longer-term projections and qualified more than one supplier to reduce risk.

ASM forecast on Tuesday fourth-quarter revenue above expectations and said it would reach its 2030 sales target three years early, driven by AI-related capacity investments.

Its shares were up around 3% as of 0915 GMT, bringing the year-to-date gains to 48%.

"UNPRECEDENTED" AI DEMAND, VISIBILITY INTO 2028

ASM makes machines that deposit ultra-thin films on silicon wafers and leads in atomic layer deposition, a technique needed for the most advanced chips that are powering data centers.

"If you look into the demand in AI, it's huge; it's unprecedented," M'Saad said.

The CEO's comments come as investors question how the AI build-out is being financed and whether the spending will pay off, concerns that have weighed on chip stocks in recent weeks.

($1 = 0.8993 euros)

(Reporting by Nathan Vifflin in Gdansk, editing by Anna Pruchnicka)