(Bloomberg) — Shares of ASML Holding NV fell by the most in 26 years after the company booked about half of analysts’ expected orders in the third quarter and lowered its 2025 forecast, adding an ugly surprise It was reinforced that the company planned to release its financial results a day earlier.

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Orders totaled 2.6 billion euros ($2.8 billion) in the third quarter, missing the average estimate of 5.39 billion euros from analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. A downturn in the semiconductor industry dampened demand for the Dutch company’s chip-making machines.

The results caused shares in Amsterdam to plunge 16% to close at €668.10, the biggest fall since June 12, 1998. Trading was briefly halted following the fall.

“It now appears that the recovery is slower than previously expected. This is expected to continue in 2025, resulting in customer reluctance,” Chief Executive Christophe Fouquet said in the statement.

The company accidentally released Wednesday’s expected statement and will soon release an explanation for the early release, a person familiar with the matter said.

The company lowered its forecast for total net sales in 2025 to the lower half of the range between 30 and 35 billion euros. Next year, the company expects “a gross margin between 51% and 53%, which is below the range we provided at the time, mainly due to the lagged timing of EUV demand,” Fouquet said.

Shares of Europe’s most valuable technology company have fallen by a third since hitting a record high in July, weighed down by the prospect of further U.S. restrictions on its business in China as well as broader weakness in the industry.

Last month, the Netherlands published new export control rules that prompted ASML to apply for export licenses for some of its older machines in The Hague rather than the United States. This came following a Bloomberg report that the Dutch government would partially restrict ASML’s ability to repair and service its semiconductor equipment in China.

China remained ASML’s largest market, accounting for 47% of revenue in the quarter.

(Updates with details starting in first paragraph.)

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