An icon of ASML is displayed on a smartphone, with an ASML chip visible in the background.
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The Dutch government on Friday announced it is expanding export restrictions on advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment, bringing more of ASML‘s machines under curbs.
More types of chipmaking tools are now subject to requirements that mean companies will have to apply for a license from the Dutch government to export their gear out of the country.
Like other countries, the Netherlands sees such curbs as a key national security requirement.
“I’ve made this decision for reasons of security. We see that technological advances have given rise to increased security risks associated with the export of this specific manufacturing equipment, especially in the current geopolitical context,” Reinette Klever, minister of foreign trade and development for the Netherlands, said in a statement.
The expanded restrictions come after the Dutch government last year introduced its first major export restrictions on advanced semiconductor equipment exports.
The country’s latest moves come after the U.S. on Friday rolled out new export controls on critical technologies, including quantum computing and semiconductor goods.
In late 2022, the U.S. introduced sweeping rules aiming to cut off exports of key chips and semiconductor tools to China and sought to get allied countries to follow suit. Washington has pressured countries like the Netherlands and others to ramp up export curbs on key chipmaking tools. ASML’s critical role in advanced chips has made the Netherlands a key focus for U.S. policymakers.
In its latest statement, the government did not name any specific countries that would be of particular focus for the chip restrictions, stating instead that the rules apply to exports from the Netherlands to destinations outside of the European Union.
“The Netherlands has a unique, leading position in this area. This entails certain responsibilities, which we take seriously. The Dutch semiconductor industry needs to know what it can expect. We have proceeded in a careful and targeted manner, so as to minimise the disruption to global trade flows and value chains,” Klever said.
More ASML tools under curbs
ASML makes two types of tools – an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machine and a deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography machine.
EUV lithography machines, which are used by chipmakers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, are required to produce the most cutting-edge chips.
DUV lithography machines are used to manufacture other types of semiconductors like memory chips, which go into everything from laptops to phones.
Both sets of machines were brought under Dutch government curbs last year. ASML said the expanded restrictions on Friday mean its TWINSCAN NXT:1970i and 1980i DUV immersion lithography systems will now require a license from the Dutch government to be exported.
ASML said in a separate statement Friday that the latest measures from the government are not expected to have any impact on its financial outlook for 2024 or for its “longer-term scenarios.”
People wait in line for t-shirts at a pop-up kiosk for the online brokerage Robinhood along Wall Street after the company went public with an IPO earlier in the day on July 29, 2021 in New York City.
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It was a bad day for tech stocks, and a brutal one for fintech.
As the Nasdaq suffered its steepest decline since 2022, some of the biggest losers were companies that sit at the intersection of Wall Street and Silicon Valley.
Stock trading app Robinhood tumbled 20%, bitcoin holder Strategy fell 17% and crypto exchange Coinbase lost 18%. Much of the slide in those three stocks was tied to the drop in bitcoin, which fell almost 5%, continuing its downward trajectory. The price of the leading cryptocurrency is now down 19% in the past month, falling after a big-post election pop in late 2024.
Beyond the crypto trade, online lenders and payments companies also fell more than the broader market. Affirm, which popularized buy now, pay later loans, dropped 11%, as did SoFi, which offers personal loans and mortgages. Shopify, which provides payment technology to online retailers, fell more than 7%.
JPMorgan Chase fintech analysts on Monday highlighted declining consumer confidence as a potential challenge for companies that rely on consumer spending for growth. In late February, the Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index slipped to 98.3 for the month, down nearly 7%, the largest monthly drop since August 2021. Walmart recently reported a shift away from discretionary purchases, underscoring the potential trouble.
“Our universe has modestly outperformed the S&P 500 since the election, but sentiment has soured of late on declining consumer confidence and signs of slowing discretionary spend,” the JPMorgan analysts wrote.
The fintech selloff follows a strong rally in the fourth quarter, driven by Fed rate cut expectations and hopes for a more favorable regulatory environment under the Trump administration.
Larry Ellison, chairman and co-founder of Oracle Corp., speaks during the Oracle OpenWorld 2017 conference in San Francisco on Oct. 1, 2017.
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Oracle issued quarterly results on Monday that trailed analysts’ estimates, but the company offered bullish comments on its cloud infrastructure segment.
Here is how Oracle did compared to LSEG consensus:
Earnings per share: $1.47 adjusted vs. $1.49 expected
Revenue: $14.13 billion vs. $14.39 billion expected
Revenue increased 6% from $13.3 billion in the same period last year. Net income rose 22% to $2.94 billion, or $1.02 a share, from $2.4 billion, or 85 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue in Oracle’s cloud services business jumped 10% from a year earlier to $11.01 billion, accounting for 78% of total sales.
The company’s cloud infrastructure segment, which helps businesses move workloads out of their own data centers, has been booming due to demand for computing power that can support artificial intelligence projects. Oracle said revenue in its cloud infrastructure unit increased 49% from a year earlier to $2.7 billion.
“We are on schedule to double our data center capacity this calendar year,” Oracle Chair Larry Ellison said in a release. “Customer demand is at record levels.”
In January, President Donald Trump announced plans to invest billions of dollars in AI infrastructure in the U.S. in collaboration with Oracle, OpenAI and SoftBank. The first initiative of the joint venture, called Stargate, will be to construct data centers in Texas — an effort that is already underway, Ellison said during the announcement at the White House.
Oracle’s cloud and on-premises licenses business contributed $1.1 billion in revenue during the quarter, down 10% year over year.
Oracle also said it is increasing its quarterly dividend to 50 cents a share from 40 cents.
As of Monday’s close, the stock is down almost 11% year to date.
Oracle will hold its quarterly call with investors and will share its outlook at 5 p.m. ET.
Asana CEO and Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz
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Dustin Moskovitz, the CEO of Asana and one of the original founders of Facebook, is retiring from the software company he started in 2008.
Asana announced Moskovitz’s retirement on Monday as part of the company’s fiscal fourth-quarter earnings report, and its board has retained an executive search firm to help choose a new CEO. Moskovitz notified its board “of his intention to transition to the role of Chair when a new CEO begins,” the company said Monday.
“As I reflect on my journey since co-founding Asana nearly 17 years ago, I’m filled with immense gratitude,” Moskovitz said in a statement. “Creating and leading Asana has been more than just building a company — it’s been a profound privilege to work alongside some of the most talented minds in the industry.”
Asana said fourth-quarter sales rose 10% year-over-year to $188.3 million, which was in-line with analyst estimates.
The company said its fourth-quarter adjusted earnings per share was breakeven, ahead of analyst estimates of a loss of one cent per share.
Asana said it expects fiscal first-quarter revenue of $184.5 million to $186.5 million, trailing analyst expectations of $191 million.
Asana’s stock price was down more than 25% in after-hours trading Monday.