Nvidia’s AI Boom Couldn’t Happen Without Dutch Chip Equipment Maker ASML

Nvidia has become the world's most valuable company thanks to its advanced chips that are powering the AI revolution. But it could not succeed without ASML.

The Dutch semiconductor equipment company, one of Europe's most valuable, makes lithography machines needed to print extremely fine patterns on silicon wafers.

It's the only company in the world that makes extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines used to produce the most advanced semiconductors. It has a 90% share of the wider lithography market.

Bank of America analyst Didier Scemama predicted it would soon have a monopoly in next-generation EUV lithography. "ASML has industrialised next gen EUV (Extreme Ultraviolet) lithography technology, which we believe will underpin many of the disruptive trends of this decade," he wrote in a Wednesday note.

His note came after ASML's earnings report revealed bookings were more than double analyst expectations in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Catching up to ASML 'is virtually impossible'

Javier Correonero, equity analyst at Morningstar, told CNBC that lithography was "the building block of any chip," adding that ASML machines have played a role in the production of 99% of semiconductors.

But it's EUVs that are crucial for the AI buildout.

ASML makes two types of EUVs: low numerical aperture, used to produce the current generation of AI chips, including the Nvidia Blackwell, and the more-advanced high numerical aperture, used in R&D by companies developing next-generation semiconductors.

ASML's EXE:5000 in the High NA Lab in Veldhoven.

Both machines fire powerful lasers at molten tin droplets in a vacuum, which create plasma that emits EUV light. The light is then guided using ultra-precise mirrors and reflected off a mask containing the pattern for one layer of the chip, which is then shrunk and projected onto a silicon wafer.

Those systems are bought by chip foundries like Taiwanese company TSMC, which are contracted by chip designers like Nvidia.

Correonero said companies like Japan's Nikon and Canon, which ship some lithography machines for non-advanced process nodes, were "far-away competitors."

"They are large conglomerates which have invested only a tiny fraction of what ASML has invested over three decades. At this point, catching up is virtually impossible," he added.

Looking ahead

EUVs make up the majority of ASML's booking value, contributing 7.4 billion euros ($8.8 billion) to a total 13.2 billion euros in net bookings in the fourth quarter of 2025. Across 2025, the company sold 48 EUV systems, generating 11.6 billion euros in revenue.

While ASML doesn't publicly reveal what its machines cost, analysts told CNBC that the price tag for its most advanced high NA EUV is between 320 million and 400 million euros. Its low NA EUV sells for around 220 million euros, said Correonero.

Companies like TSMC, Intel and Samsung are experimenting with the high NA EUV in a lab setting at the moment, he added.

"Once customers are accustomed to the tool, it is gradually introduced into high volume manufacturing. High NA is expected to reach high volume manufacturing by 2027-2028, with Intel as the first adopter," Correonero said.

ASML's share price rose 36% last year. It's surged another 32% since Jan. 1. Earlier this month, it became just the third European company to see its valuation hit the half-trillion dollar mark, gains which it has held.

Analysts expect the stock to keep rising, as advanced chips remain critical to the continuing AI buildout. ASML predicts that 2026 will see net sales hit between 34 billion and 39 billion euros, ahead of the 32.7 billion euros it picked up in 2025.

Source: CNBC