ASML is the world’s leading producer of extreme ultraviolet lithography machines, a position that has helped make it one of the most valuable semiconductor-related companies by market capitalization.
EUV lithography uses extremely short-wavelength light to print the tiny patterns that form advanced integrated circuits. ASML’s machines are extraordinarily complex and are assembled with components from a large international supplier network.
The company does not manufacture the finished chips in the way TSMC does. Instead, it supplies critical equipment to chipmakers, including tools used by leading foundries and integrated-device manufacturers. This distinction is a common source of confusion in market-cap comparisons.
ASML’s market value is closely tied to expectations for semiconductor demand, artificial intelligence, smartphones, data centers, and the capital spending plans of chip manufacturers. Because its systems are essential to advanced-node production, changes in the semiconductor cycle can have an outsized effect on the company’s share price.