ASML Exceeds $500 Billion in Market Value on TSMC's Blockbuster Spending Plans -- Update

By Mauro Orru

Dutch chip-making equipment supplier ASML Holding surpassed $500 billion in market value for the first time after its client Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. set out record spending plans for the year.

ASML shares in Amsterdam closed 6% higher on Thursday, lifting the group's market value to roughly 446.14 billion euros ($519.51 billion), according to FactSet. ASML's market value stood at just under 415 billion euros on Wednesday.

The surge in ASML shares and other semiconductor stocks came after TSMC--the world's largest contract chip maker--said Thursday that it planned $52 billion to $56 billion in capital expenditure this year, 27% to 37% higher than a year earlier.

TSMC is a key buyer of ASML's semiconductor-making equipment that the Taiwanese company needs to produce increasingly sophisticated chips, including those behind the artificialintelligence boom.

Major technology companies have made hefty AI spending commitments in recent months, raising fears of an AI bubble. However, TSMC said its higher capex plans followed checks with customers, a sign that the company expects demand to stay healthy.

ASML investors have welcomed the announcement as higher spending from a client of TSMC's stature raises expectations that the company will need to purchase more of ASML's semiconductor-making machines to satisfy demand from its own customers, including Nvidia and Apple.

Citi analysts wrote in a note to clients that TSMC's spending plans are materially positive for ASML and other semiconductor equipment stocks like ASM International and BE Semiconductor Industries, which closed more than 11% and 7% higher, respectively.

ASML's stock is up about 25% year to date. Analysts at UBS and J.P.Morgan estimate that the company bagged some 7 billion euros in orders in the fourth quarter, mainly lifted by TSMC and other key clients like Samsung Electronics and Intel.

ASML is scheduled to report fourth-quarter earnings on Jan. 28, the last time that the company will post quarterly order figures. The group said last year that it would stop reporting quarterly orders as of 2026 because the metric doesn't necessarily reflect its performance.

Still, analysts say the figure will be a key focus among investors as orders booked in the fourth quarter offer a glimpse into what ASML will be shipping to customers in the coming months.

Write to Mauro Orru at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-15-26 1225ET