ASML

ASML (ASML) is a publicly traded Lithography & Equipment company founded in 1984 and based in Veldhoven, Netherlands.

ASML holds a global monopoly on extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography systems required to manufacture chips at 7nm and below. Each EUV tool costs ~$200M; export bans to China orchestrated by US and Dutch governments. High-NA EUV systems shipping in 2024.

No advanced chip can be made without ASML's EUV machines, making it the ultimate chokepoint in semiconductor manufacturing.

asml.com Lithography & Equipment

Netherlandspublic · ASML

At a glance

Total raised

$170M

last round ipo

Headcount

—

no public estimate on record

Headquarters

Veldhoven

Netherlands

Founded

1984

42 years active

Status

Public

Ticker · ASML

Patents on file

Funding history

Total raised

$170M

Rounds tracked

Latest stage

IPO

Date	Stage	Amount	Valuation	Lead investors
Feb 1, 1995	IPO	$170M	—	—

Stock performance

AI bull / bear

Bull case

ASML is the single most irreplaceable company in the global semiconductor supply chain. No chip at 7nm or below — meaning every leading-edge AI accelerator, smartphone processor, and GPU — can be fabricated without an ASML EUV machine. That monopoly is structurally reinforced: the R&D cost to replicate EUV technology is well into the tens of billions and took decades to perfect. With each tool commanding ~$200M and margins exceeding 50%, every new fab from TSMC, Samsung, and Intel feeds ASML's top line directly. The arrival of High-NA EUV systems in 2024 extends the moat further — only ASML has the optics and manufacturing know-how to deliver them. Export controls on China, while geopolitically contentious, actually protect ASML's pricing power by limiting supply to the highest-value customers. As AI compute demand proliferates and foundries compete to build out capacity, ASML is the toll booth that every chipmaker must pay.

Bear case

ASML faces two converging risks that could compress its valuation multiple significantly. First, the China export ban — orchestrated by the US and Dutch governments — cuts off a major growth market. Chinese chipmakers are aggressively developing alternative lithography approaches, including self-aligned multi-patterning with deep UV tools and novel maskless direct-write technologies. Even if those alternatives are less efficient, they erode ASML's monopoly if Chinese foundries accept lower yields to achieve strategic independence. Second, the High-NA transition carries execution risk: early systems cost over $350M each, and customer adoption timelines keep slipping. If TSMC decides High-NA is uneconomical for 2nm-class nodes and sticks with existing EUV multipatterning, ASML's highest-margin product line stalls. Combined with potential cyclical downcycles in semiconductor capital spending — historically a 3-4 year pattern — ASML's revenue could face its first sustained decline since EUV ramped at scale.

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ASML

At a glance

Funding history

Stock performance

How they make money

Investability Index

AI bull / bear

In the news

Intel Deploys $400 Million ASML Tech for Panther Lake Chips

ASML Holding stock reflects demand for advanced chip manufacturing tools

ASML Insiders Take Profits, but the €38.8 Billion Backlog Keeps the Narrative Bullish

China rolls out 1st prototype EUV lithography machine challenging ASML

ASML Holding stock holds firm as chip-equipment demand shapes long-term outlook

ASML's Q2 Report Looms With a $26.5 Billion Demand Signal and an Unresolved Washington Question

Watch

Leadership

Products

EUV Lithography Systems (NXE)

High-NA EUV (EXE:5000/5200)

DUV Lithography Systems

Metrology, Inspection & Computational Lithography

Most recent patents

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