Analyzing ASML (ASML) and Its Competitors

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) is one of 221 publicly-traded companies in the “Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its competitors? We will compare ASML to related companies based on the strength of its dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, institutional ownership and valuation.

Volatility and Risk

ASML has a beta of 1.8, meaning that its share price is 80% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ASML’s competitors have a beta of 2.80, meaning that their average share price is 180% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

ASML pays an annual dividend of $7.13 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. ASML pays out 17.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment” companies pay a dividend yield of 1.0% and pay out 28.6% of their earnings in the form of a dividend.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for ASML and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ASML	3	2	17	2	2.75
ASML Competitors	3503	12354	25779	997	2.57

ASML presently has a consensus price target of $2,204.71, indicating a potential upside of 54.74%. As a group, “Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment” companies have a potential upside of 54.22%. Given ASML’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe ASML is more favorable than its competitors.

Profitability

This table compares ASML and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ASML	34.10%	64.24%	26.08%
ASML Competitors	-1,280.35%	-126.32%	-3.97%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

26.1% of ASML shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 54.6% of shares of all “Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment” companies are owned by institutional investors. 11.9% of shares of all “Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares ASML and its competitors revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
ASML	$36.95 billion	$10.87 billion	35.08
ASML Competitors	$7.33 billion	$2.49 billion	8.81

ASML has higher revenue and earnings than its competitors. ASML is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Summary

ASML beats its competitors on 11 of the 15 factors compared.

ASML Company Profile

ASML Holding N.V. develops, produces, markets, sells, and services advanced semiconductor equipment systems for chipmakers. It offers advanced semiconductor equipment systems, including lithography, metrology, and inspection systems. The company also provides extreme ultraviolet lithography systems; and deep ultraviolet lithography systems comprising immersion and dry lithography solutions to manufacture various range of semiconductor nodes and technologies. In addition, it offers metrology and inspection systems, including YieldStar optical metrology systems to assess the quality of patterns on the wafers; and HMI electron beam solutions to locate and analyze individual chip defects. Further, the company provides computational lithography solutions, and lithography systems and control software solutions; and refurbishes and upgrades lithography systems, as well as offers customer support and related services. It operates in Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, China, rest of Asia, the Netherlands, rest of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the United States. The company was formerly known as ASM Lithography Holding N.V. and changed its name to ASML Holding N.V. in 2001. ASML Holding N.V. was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Veldhoven, the Netherlands.