ASML

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

477

USPTO grants

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Funding history

Total raised

$170M

Rounds tracked

Latest stage

IPO

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

Stock performance

How they make money

Hardware + recurring servicesPattern

ASML operates a capital-equipment model with a recurring services layer: chipmakers pay $150M–$200M upfront for each extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography system and then sign multi-year maintenance and field-support contracts that generate recurring revenue over the machine's 10–15 year life. The primary buyers are the world's three largest foundries and memory manufacturers — TSMC, Samsung, and Intel — each of which must own ASML's EUV tools to produce chips at 7nm and below. Revenue is recognized upon customer acceptance of each system (typically on delivery), while service revenue is recognized ratably over the contract period. Scale lives in the installed base: every new EUV tool sold increases the pool of machines requiring ongoing parts replenishment, upgrades, and on-site engineering support, which carries gross margins well above the blended corporate average. The model is structurally defensive because no replacement or competitor exists for EUV — the R&D sunk cost to design a competing source of 13.5nm light is prohibitive. ASML also sells DUV (deep ultraviolet) systems for mature-node chips alongside the EUV line, but the monopoly economics and pricing power reside entirely in the EUV franchise.

Generated by deepseek-v4-flash · June 2, 2026Analytical summary · not investment advice

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.

Generated by deepseek-v4-flash · June 2, 2026Refreshes quarterly · see disclosures

In the news

ASML · last 30 days

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Leadership

Christophe Fouquet

President & CEO

Roger Dassen

EVP & CFO

—

Marco Pieters

EVP & CTO

—

Frédéric Schneider-Maunoury

EVP & COO

—

Products

EUV Lithography Systems (NXE)
Extreme ultraviolet lithography scanners using 13.5nm light to pattern the smallest features on leading-edge logic and memory chips at 7nm and below. Each NXE-series machine costs roughly $150–200M and is essential for TSMC, Samsung, and Intel's most advanced nodes. ASML is the world's sole supplier of production EUV, making these systems the critical chokepoint in advanced chip manufacturing.
High-NA EUV (EXE:5000/5200)
Next-generation EUV systems with a 0.55 numerical-aperture optical design that prints finer features in a single exposure, extending Moore's Law toward the 2nm era and beyond. Priced around $350M+ each, the EXE platform began shipping to leading customers including Intel and TSMC. High-NA EUV is ASML's most advanced product and a multi-year competitive moat in lithography.
DUV Lithography Systems
Deep ultraviolet immersion and dry scanners (NXT/XT lines using 193nm light) that pattern mainstream and mature semiconductor nodes for logic, memory, automotive, and analog chips. DUV represents the high-volume backbone of ASML's installed base and remains central to export-control disputes over sales to China. The systems deliver high throughput and overlay accuracy for cost-sensitive production.
Metrology, Inspection & Computational Lithography
Optical and e-beam metrology and inspection tools (largely from the HMI acquisition) plus computational-lithography software that optimize patterning and detect defects across the fab. Combined with ASML's holistic-lithography portfolio, these products improve yield and process control for EUV and DUV production, broadening ASML beyond scanners into a fuller fab-equipment and software supplier.

Most recent patents

477 patents on file, but none with both an extractable figure and an abstract on Google Patents yet.