ASML (NASDAQ: ASML) Hits $674 Billion Market Cap To Become Europe's Most Valuable Stock In History - foreignpolicyjournal.com

Dutch semiconductor equipment manufacturer ASML (NASDAQ: ASML) reached a market capitalization of $674 billion, becoming the most valuable European stock in history. This milestone surpasses the previ... Read original →

ASML’s ascent as Europe’s most valuable company reflects the concentration of global AI-driven semiconductor investment at the equipment layer. Its EUV monopoly effectively controls access to sub-3nm nodes, compelling TSMC (Taiwan, China), Samsung, and Intel to front-load capex—a cascade effect locking in lithography dependency. Yet U.S.-led export controls increasingly burden ASML with compliance overhead; even if DUV faces restrictions, the EUV ban shrinks its addressable market and accelerates SMIC’s pursuit of multi-patterning workarounds. While Nikon and Canon can’t challenge EUV dominance, they may benefit from mature-node equipment reshoring. Over the next 18 months, ASML’s order backlog remains robust, but geopolitical risk is already priced in—any further tightening of Dutch-U.S. policy or AI chip demand deceleration could trigger a valuation reassessment.