The chaos erupted when a leading Dutch semiconductor manufacturer accidentally released disappointing financial forecasts a day ahead of schedule, wiping billions of dollars from the overall semiconductor sector's market capitalization.
Shares of ASML, which makes equipment used to make chips, including the processors that power artificial intelligence, fell nearly 6% on Wednesday. The stock had fallen 16% over the past day, representing a loss of more than $52 billion in market capitalization.
That was after ASML's third-quarter financial results were mysteriously published online. The company later admitted that the report was “published in error” due to a “technical error.” CEO Christophe Fouquet later apologized at an earnings conference.
“This was very unfortunate,” Fouquet said.
The coincidental post prompted the Netherlands-based company to reveal that it had lowered its 2025 sales outlook and warned that gross profit margins would also be lower than previously expected. ASML said the downturn in the chip market is “expected to continue into 2025, leading to customer caution.”
The error sparked an outcry on social media as users mocked ASML.
“ASML's erroneous publication of third-quarter results adheres to a long-standing tradition in which our nation's most technologically sophisticated companies are somehow incompetent with slide decks and spreadsheets.” Sequoia Capital Partner Andrew Reed writes: With X.
In other places, X user @StockMKTNewz joked: “Would you all please take a moment of silence for the ASML interns?”
ASML is widely considered a bellwether for the entire chip industry, and its warnings had far-reaching effects on the field. Nvidia, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Intel and other semiconductor stocks fell on the news.
“If you ask me, the market would be very sad without AI today,” Fouquet said during the call. According to Bloomberg. “I don't think the recovery is what everyone was hoping for.”
Dutch shareholder rights group VEB criticized ASML for making an unforced error, even though officials acknowledged it was “human error.”
“For a company that is the largest listed company in the Netherlands and a major technology company in Europe, this is not what we would expect from ASML,” VEB Director Gerven Everts told Reuters.
“They must be ashamed that something like this happened and that it was all over the news,” Everts added.
