ASMI sees lower sales in third quarter after solid seond quarter

(Reuters) – Dutch semiconductor manufacturing equipment supplier ASM International NV said on Tuesday it expects third-quarter sales to fall from the previous quarter, which was boosted by continued high demand from data processing chip makers and semiconductor production plants.

The company sees sales between 300 million euros and 320 million euros ($351.87 million-$375.33 million) in the July to September period, compared with 342 million euros in the quarter ended in June, which was in line with its earlier forecast.

“Supply chain and logistical conditions resulted in operating challenges during Q2, but started to improve towards the end of the quarter,” said Chief Executive Benjamin Loh.

ASMI added it expects fourth-quarter sales to be at least on the same level as the third one.

The company, which provides semiconductor manufacturing equipment for chipmakers and semiconductor fabrication plants, is sensitive to demand shifts in end markets, such as smart phone and auto industries which have been hit hard by the pandemic.

U.S. chipmaker Intel Corp signalled last week it may give up manufacturing its own components after falling far behind schedule developing its newest technology.

Stocks of chip equipment suppliers slumped following the news on expectations that Intel may build and upgrade fewer factories, with ASMI and rival ASML Holding NV both falling almost 5% last Friday.

(Reporting by Milla Nissi and Anna Rzhevkina in Gdansk; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)