By Toby Sterling and Nathan Vifflin
Publication Date: 2026-01-27 06:01:00
By Toby Sterling and Nathan Vifflin
AMSTERDAM, Jan 27 (Reuters) – As artificial intelligence firms jostle for the Nvidia chips needed to power the AI boom, Dutch firm ASML has carved out a key niche in the supply chain: building the laser-using machines needed to print them.
ASML, which counts Taiwan’s TSMC and Intel amongst its clients, makes the huge precision machines needed to print the minuscule circuitry onto silicon chips, dominating the market for the high-end microprocessors needed for AI.
The Veldhoven, Netherlands-based company has seen its shares double in value since last April and rise 25% this month alone amid signs that its chipmaker clients are ramping up investment as a supply crunch pushes up chip prices.
Now investors are watching whether the firm ups its forecasts for flat-to-modest sales growth in 2026 when it reports earnings on Wednesday, analysts said.
Analysts have been upgrading estimates as the stock races ahead, with new forecasts significantly above the company’s guidance.
A monopoly on extreme ultraviolet (EUV) technology has helped the firm ride the coattails of chip design giant Nvidia amid a global AI arms race that has created trillions of dollars in value.
ASML is “the only game in town,” said John West of semiconductor consultancy Yole Group, referring to EUV, which uses light beams just 13.5 nanometers thick – minuscule, given a human hair is around…