ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Trading 9.5% Higher – Should You Buy?

ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) traded up 9.5% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $1,903.50 and last traded at $1,899.48. 2,931,726 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 59% from the average session volume of 1,840,165 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1,734.19.

ASML News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting ASML this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Goldman Sachs reaffirmed its buy rating on ASML, reinforcing Wall Street confidence in the company’s long-term earnings and dominance in semiconductor lithography. ASML receives a buy rating from Goldman Sachs
• Positive Sentiment: Elon Musk’s appearance at ASML’s technology conference put the company in the spotlight and highlighted its importance to next-generation chip manufacturing plans, including Musk’s proposed Terafab project tied to Tesla and SpaceX. Ahead of SpaceX IPO, Elon Musk addresses ASML employees as part of push into chip manufacturing
• Positive Sentiment: Investor interest remains strong in ASML’s technology leadership, with commentary noting its widening moat and continued relevance in AI and advanced semiconductor manufacturing. The Competitive Threat That Never Was: ASML’s Widening Moat Boosts Stock 77% YTD
• Neutral Sentiment: ASML also drew attention from articles discussing possible chip-tool challengers such as Canon and xLight, but these reports did not show an immediate threat to ASML’s EUV leadership. Canon: Potential Challenger Of ASML’s EUV Process
• Neutral Sentiment: ASML reached a deal with unions to reduce planned job cuts, and a separate report said the cuts were delayed, which may help labor relations but is not a major near-term growth driver. ASML to slash fewer jobs after striking deal with unions

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ASML. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of ASML in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Berenberg Bank restated a “buy” rating on shares of ASML in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of ASML in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $1,750.00 price objective on shares of ASML in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Morningstar cut ASML to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,589.63.

ASML Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $732.90 billion, a PE ratio of 66.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.82. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,539.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1,369.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last issued its earnings results on Monday, March 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $10.15 billion during the quarter. ASML had a return on equity of 48.69% and a net margin of 27.65%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that ASML Holding N.V. will post 36.93 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of ASML

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ASML. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of ASML by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,484,949 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,798,268,000 after buying an additional 132,353 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its position in ASML by 17.3% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 3,919,154 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,791,982,000 after purchasing an additional 577,448 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in ASML by 16.6% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,148,506 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,079,948,000 after purchasing an additional 305,435 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in ASML by 8.3% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,865,254 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,805,733,000 after purchasing an additional 142,763 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in ASML by 6.3% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,641,565 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,168,227,000 after purchasing an additional 96,860 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

About ASML

ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ: ASML) is a Dutch company that develops, manufactures and services advanced photolithography systems used to produce semiconductor chips. Headquartered in Veldhoven, Netherlands, ASML supplies capital equipment and associated software and services that enable semiconductor manufacturers to pattern the intricate circuits on silicon wafers. The company is widely recognized for its leadership in extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography as well as its deep ultraviolet (DUV) platforms used across multiple process nodes.

ASML’s product portfolio includes EUV and DUV lithography machines, light sources, imaging optics and control software, together with spare parts, upgrades and field services.