ASML Loses Nearly $17 Billion of Value as TSMC Shuns Top-End Machines

By Joe Stonor

ASML shares fell after chip giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. said it has no plans to buy the Dutch group's high-end lithography machines because they are too expensive.

Shares in ASML--which is Europe's most valuable company--slid 3% in early afternoon trade on the continent. The fall wiped out 14.32 billion euros, equivalent to $16.76 billion, of ASML's stock market value.

The Taiwanese group's new A13 node doesn't require it to purchase ASML's most advanced ultraviolet lithography units, known as High-NA EUV machines, TSMC's co-chief operating officer Kevin Zhang said, according to a Bloomberg report.

Zhang's comments cast a shadow on broader market optimism around semiconductor stocks that had pushed the Nasdaq to a record high Wednesday, Swissquote senior analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya said.

ASML's lithography machines are used by chip makers like TSMC and Samsung Electronics to print complex circuit designs onto silicon wafers. The Dutch company has said that its most-advanced machines would make that process more efficient.

"We see this as a modest negative versus our base case" for ASML, analysts at UBS wrote in a note to clients.

TSMC's position might knock ASML investor expectations for how quickly demand for High-NA machines would materialize, the analysts wrote. But delayed TSMC appetite could encourage other chip makers to try and get ahead of the Taiwanese group.

"While TSMC may adopt High-NA later than we initially expected, this opens the door for other foundry and logic customers to move earlier and differentiate," the analysts said.

Zhang's comments on his company's takeup of ASML's most advanced technology echo previous statements made in 2024 and 2025, Citi analysts said in a note.

ASML declined to comment.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

04-23-26 0741ET