• Dutch chip equipment firm ASML released its third-quarter results a day early on Tuesday in error.
• The company said it expects 2025 net sales of 30 billion euros and 35 billion euros ($32.7 billion and $38.1 billion), in the lower half of a range it had previously provided.
• ASML said early publication of its results was due to a technical error, which saw it erroneously publish the report on a part of its website.
• ASML's share plunge saw the critical semiconductor firm lose 49.2 billion euros ($53.6 billion) in market capitalization in a single day.

Shares in semiconductor equipment maker ASML fell 16% on Tuesday, after the Dutch company published financial results a day early, issuing disappointing sales forecasts.

ASML's share plunge led the critical semiconductor firm to lose 48.7 billion euros ($52.99 billion) in market capitalization in a single day, according to CNBC calculations using LSEG data.

The move also pulled other chip stocks lower, with Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices and Broadcom all falling after the report.

Netherlands-based ASML on Tuesday said it expects net sales for 2025 to come in between 30 billion euros and 35 billion euros ($32.6 billion and $38.1 billion), at the lower half of the range it had previously provided.

Net bookings for the September quarter were 2.6 billion euros ($2.83 billion), the company said — well below the 5.6 billion euro LSEG consensus estimate. Net sales, however, beat expectations and reached 7.5 billion euros.

"While there continue to be strong developments and upside potential in AI, other market segments are taking longer to recover. It now appears the recovery is more gradual than previously expected," company CEO Christophe Fouquet said in the earnings release.

ASML said that the early publication of its results was the result of a technical error that led to erroneously publishing the report on a part of its website.

Wall Street analysts had turned more cautious on the company — a critical supplier to the broader semiconductor industry — in the lead-up to the earnings.

China concerns

ASML is facing a tougher business outlook in China due to U.S. and Dutch export restrictions on shipments.

Last month, the U.S. government rolled out new export controls on critical technologies to China, including advanced chipmaking tools. Separately, the Dutch government announced plans to take over control of exports of ASML's machines to the country.

ASML's extreme ultraviolet lithography machines are used by many of the world's largest chipmakers — from Nvidia to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing — to produce advanced chips.

ASML Chief Financial Officer Roger Dassen said Tuesday that he expects the company's China business to show a "more normalized percentage in our order book and also in our business."

"We do see China trending towards more historically normal percentages in our business," Dassen said, according to a transcript of a video that was also released a day early.

"So we expect China to come in at around 20% of our total revenue for next year. Which would also be in line with its representation in our backlog." 

In its June-quarter earnings presentation, ASML had said that 49% of its sales come from China.

'Clearly disappointing'

In a note published following ASML's results on Tuesday, analysts at Bernstein said the weaker-than-expected order book and a disappointing 2025 outlook were "likely to overshadow decent Q3 results."

The analysts added that ASML's lowered guidance indicates that "the delayed cyclical recovery and specific customer challenges are weighing heavily" on 2025 expectations.

Analysts at Cantor, meanwhile, said the downbeat outlook for ASML was "clearly disappointing" and will weigh on semiconductor stocks. However, they added that, "in no way shape or form does the company's updated outlook indicate any change in the AI growth story."