ASML is a Dutch semiconductor-equipment manufacturer and the only company that makes extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) lithography systems, the machines required to fabricate leading-edge (≤7nm) logic and advanced memory. Because EUV has no alternative supplier, ASML is widely described as a chokepoint in the AI compute supply chain and a focus of US-led export controls. As of 2026 it is Europe's most valuable company by market capitalization, surpassing LVMH and Hermès (Source: wsj.com).
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Type | Semiconductor lithography equipment manufacturer |
| Founded | 1984 (spun out of Philips) |
| HQ | Veldhoven, Netherlands |
| CEO | Christophe Fouquet |
| CFO | Roger Dassen |
| Ticker | Euronext Amsterdam / NASDAQ: ASML |
Snapshot
Production capacity (standard low-NA EUV machines)
| Year | Output | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2027 (target) | ≥80 machines | (Source: wsj.com) |
| 2026 (target) | ≥60 machines (+36% YoY) | (Source: wsj.com) |
| 2025 | ~44 machines (revenue-recognized basis) | (Source: wsj.com) |
Annual revenue
CapEx
| Year | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 (planned) | ~$2.2B (+~20% YoY) | (Source: wsj.com) |
Role in the AI compute supply chain
ASML is the sole supplier of EUV lithography scanners (the NXE series). TSMC, Samsung Foundry, Intel, SK Hynix, and Micron all depend on ASML EUV tools for their most advanced nodes. ASML also sells the most advanced deep-ultraviolet (DUV) immersion scanners (the NXT:2100i and successors), which SMIC uses for its 7nm-class multipatterning node. ASML in turn depends on Zeiss (Germany) for precision optics and on Cymer (a US-based ASML subsidiary) for EUV light sources.
Next-generation High-NA EUV systems (the EXE:5000 series) are priced at roughly $400M each, versus about $200M for standard EUV. They extend EUV capability to roughly 2nm and below, and the first production tools shipped to Intel in 2024–2025.
ASML is frequently grouped with Nvidia and TSMC as one of roughly three single points of failure in the global AI hardware stack.
Products
- NXE:3800E / NXE:4000F — current-generation standard EUV scanners.
- EXE:5000 / EXE:5200 — High-NA EUV, about $400M per system, shipping to leading-edge customers.
- NXT:2100i and successors — most advanced DUV immersion scanners.
- Metrology and computational lithography tools (following the HMI and Brion acquisitions).
Market position
ASML holds 100% global market share in EUV. In DUV immersion it has a dominant share, with Nikon a distant second concentrated in mature nodes; in DUV dry and i-line tools it competes with Nikon and Canon at trailing nodes. ASML is Europe's most valuable company by market capitalization, having surpassed LVMH and Hermès (Source: wsj.com).
Export controls and geopolitics
Per CSIS and related analyses, ASML is widely regarded as a central export-control target in the AI supply chain (CSIS — DeepSeek, Huawei, Export Controls, and the Future of the U.S.-China AI Race (Allen, March 2025)). The Netherlands, under sustained US pressure, has blocked ASML from shipping any EUV tools to China since 2019; no EUV system has ever been delivered to a Chinese customer. In 2023, the Dutch government restricted exports of ASML's most advanced immersion DUV scanners (the NXT:2000i and above) to China, and in 2024 service and spare-parts licenses for previously shipped advanced DUV tools were also tightened.
These restrictions are why SMIC must use multipatterning with older DUV tools rather than EUV, which caps Chinese leading-edge capacity (CSIS — DeepSeek, Huawei, Export Controls, and the Future of the U.S.-China AI Race (Allen, March 2025)). US–Netherlands–Japan trilateral coordination on lithography, extending to related tool vendors Nikon, Canon, and Tokyo Electron, is often cited as among the most effective examples of allied compute governance.
ASML executives have publicly questioned whether cutting China off accelerates Chinese indigenization rather than deterring it. Chinese efforts toward indigenous EUV, including work by SMEE and Huawei patents on laser-discharge-produced plasma sources, are generally characterized as a multi-decade undertaking rather than a near-term substitute.
In July 2026 the United States alleged that China may have obtained an advanced ASML extreme-ultraviolet lithography machine despite the export ban, a claim ASML was reported to be fighting to rebut; the dispute sharpened tensions over export controls and the AI chip supply chain (Source: economist.com). If substantiated, it would be the first EUV system in Chinese hands; no delivery to a Chinese customer has ever been reported. In coverage published July 18, 2026, ASML's rebuttal was reported in specific terms: the company says it knows the exact location of all 340 EUV machines it has produced, including 26 decommissioned units, and that none is in China (Source: ground.news).
2026 demand and production ramp
The WSJ (April 25, 2026) reported that ASML is responding to a demand surge driven by hyperscaler AI capital expenditure, with Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, and Alphabet collectively planning roughly $600B in 2026 (Source: wsj.com). ASML targets at least 60 standard EUV machines in 2026, up 36% year over year, and at least 80 in 2027, against about 44 on a revenue-recognized basis in 2025. Revenue guidance for 2026 is $42B–$47B, up from about $38B in 2025, with planned 2026 CapEx of roughly $2.2B (up about 20% year over year) directed at property, infrastructure, equipment, and hiring and training.
To expand output, ASML pre-built clean rooms and supply-chain coordination capacity from 2020 onward, drawing on pandemic-era lessons; it has added clean rooms in the United States, Germany, and South Korea, and began construction of a new Veldhoven campus in 2026. A senior supply-chain executive board position was created in 2023. New high-end machines produce about 10 more wafers per hour than prior models, and older machines are being upgraded. ASML has described the local Dutch talent pool as exhausted and is recruiting Netherlands-wide and from abroad to avoid, in its phrasing, "poaching from its own supply chain."
Demand for High-NA EUV remains uncertain: TSMC has stated it will stay with standard EUV "as long as it can" because High-NA, at about $400M or more per system, is too expensive.
CEO Christophe Fouquet described the production posture as: "We do not want to be the bottleneck for our customers. We have been using all the tools we have at hand to make sure we don't get there." A Bernstein analyst characterized the demand mood as customers saying, "Please give me as many machines as you can. And by the way we need more next year, and we need way more in 2028." CFO Roger Dassen framed the company's ability to scale further: "If customer demand rises by more than ASML expects, we'll figure out a way to get there. Just like they can put concrete on the ground, we can put concrete on the ground." (Source: wsj.com)
Alongside its results on July 17, 2026, ASML said it would pay staff a one-time bonus of €20,000 as AI-driven demand propelled the business (Source: bloomberg.com).
Relationships
- depends-on: Semiconductor Supply Chain — ASML is the upstream node on which essentially all leading-edge fabrication depends.
- supports: Export Controls (AI) — the EUV monopoly is what makes lithography-based export controls viable.
- contradicts: AI Sovereignty for China — the EUV ban is the largest obstacle to Chinese indigenous leading-edge logic.
- related: Nvidia & TSMC — AI Compute Infrastructure, Samsung Semiconductor, Intel, SMIC — Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, Compute Governance, AI Race Dynamics.