(Reuters) -BE Semiconductor Industries (Besi) said on Thursday it expected fourth-quarter sales to rise compared to the previous one as demand for AI-related data centre applications boosts bookings.

The Dutch chipmaking equipment supplier makes the world's most accurate hybrid bonding tool, a critical instrument that top chipmakers such as Nvidia ( NVDA ), Broadcom and TSMC are looking to adopt.

Besi said it would start a new 60-million-euro ($70 million) share buyback programme, after it completed a previous 100-million-euro one in October.

It expects revenue to increase by 15% to 25% in the fourth quarter, after it fell 15.3% year-on-year to 132.7 million euros in the third. 

Revenue was hit by continued weakness in mainstream assembly markets, particularly for mobile and automotive applications, and lower hybrid bonding revenue, Besi CEO Richard Blickman said in a statement.

Still, its third-quarter orders rose 15.1% to 174.7 million euros, helped by an increase in bookings by Asian subcontractors for data centre and photonics applications, it said.

The better outlook reflects higher demand from the industry's leading artificial intelligence players, Blickman said.

Chip makers and material suppliers have been under pressure by slower than expected recovery in inventory levels by customers, as AI chip demand only partially offset weakness in the sector for automotive, PC and memory chips.

Earlier this month, TSMC, the world's biggest producer of advanced chips, raised its full-year revenue forecast on a bullish outlook for spending on AI, after posting a record profit that blew past market estimates.

Besi also said it expected fourth-quarter gross margin to come between 61% and 63%, compared with 62.2% in the third quarter.

($1 = 0.8575 euros)