ASML

ASML Holding N.V. (originally stands for Advanced Semiconductor Materials Lithography) is a Dutch multinational corporation that develops and manufactures photolithography machines, which are used to produce integrated circuits. It is the largest supplier for the semiconductor industry, as well as the most advanced producer of extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) machines, which are required to manufacture the most advanced chips. As of January 2026, its market capitalization was approximately $527 billion, making it Europe's largest technology company and one of its most valuable firms overall. ASML was founded in 1984 as a joint venture between the Dutch technology companies Philips and ASM International; it became an independent publicly traded entity four years later. Having been established to complete development of Philips' previously in-house project to produce their own lithography machine, ASML initially had no market-ready products. Furthermore, ASML's first product, the PAS 2000, was a commercial and technical failure; however, the company did attain commercial success during the early 1990s with the PAS 5500. During 1997, ASML began studying the potential shift to EUV. By 2002, the company had become the largest supplier of lithography machines. While sales were negatively impacted by the start of the Great Recession in 2008, ASML had effectively recovered by 2011. In July 2012, Intel purchased a 15 percent stake in ASML for $4.1 billion; Samsung and TSMC also bought stakes in the firm under a co-investment program. ASML completed development of its EUV machines in the late 2010s. During the 2010s and 2020s, the US and Dutch governments both imposed new oversight and restrictions on each individual sale of ASML technology to China. ASML's corporate headquarters is in Veldhoven, just outside the city of Eindhoven, in the Netherlands, and is the location for research, development, manufacturing, and assembly. ASML employs more than 42,000 people and...