Key Points
- ASML accidentally released its third-quarter earnings report early, leading to a significant stock selloff.
- The premature release included a sales and bookings forecast downgrade for 2025, triggering the largest share price drop in 20 years.
- While critical of the incident, shareholders acknowledged the mistake as a human error, with some expressing sympathy.
- The Financial Markets Authority declined to comment on the situation, stressing the importance of simultaneously distributing information to shareholders.
Dutch chip equipment giant ASML faced a wave of criticism from shareholders on Wednesday after the company accidentally published its third-quarter earnings report earlier than scheduled. The premature release, which included a sales and bookings downgrade for 2025, caused a significant drop in its stock price—the largest selloff in 20 years. Despite the gravity of the situation, some shareholders have expressed sympathy, acknowledging the mistake as a human error.
Gerben Everts, head of the Dutch shareholder rights association VEB, voiced his disappointment over the incident, particularly given ASML’s stature as the largest publicly listed company in the Netherlands and one of Europe’s leading tech firms. “For a company of ASML’s size and significance, this is not something we would expect,” Everts said. He added that ASML should be “ashamed” of the mistake, especially as it gained widespread attention in the media.
The incident occurred when ASML accidentally uploaded its press release containing the third-quarter earnings results on its website during trading hours, half a day before the planned release. Bloomberg quickly noticed and republished the early publication, followed by other news outlets. ASML soon confirmed the authenticity of the press release and released the rest of its earnings data about 30 minutes later.
The report, which included a revision of the company’s sales and bookings forecasts for 2025, triggered a sharp selloff in ASML’s shares. CEO Christophe Fouquet, addressing the issue during a call with analysts, apologized for the mishap, describing it as “unfortunate,” particularly given the significance of the forecast downgrade.
A spokesperson for the Netherlands’ Financial Markets Authority, which oversees such regulatory matters, declined to comment on whether an investigation into the incident would be launched. The spokesperson emphasized that companies must distribute sensitive information to shareholders simultaneously.
It is not the first time ASML has faced a similar situation. In 2022, during an investor day, the company mistakenly published an SEC filing containing its outlook ahead of the scheduled release in the Netherlands. On Tuesday, ASML released a brief statement attributing the early publication of its earnings to a “technical error.”
However, Everts of VEB believes the issue goes beyond technicalities, stating, “You can call it a technical mistake, but in essence, this is a human mistake. Everybody makes mistakes.
