ASML's CEO Says AI Demand Is Accelerating. Is the Stock a Buy for 2026?

The AI roar is broadening.

Much similar Intel has been a turnaround victor connected the marketplace implicit the past six months, ASML (NASDAQ: ASML) has besides caught investors' eyes, becoming the latest semiconductor banal to bounce backmost aft lagging behind.

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ASML is the world's lone shaper of utmost ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines, which marque the astir precocious chips. These are highly complex, precise costly machines, and due to the fact that ASML lone sells astir 100 of them each quarter, the banal is highly delicate to the request cycle, which operates astatine a antithetic cadence from semiconductor demand.

Coming into the 4th fourth report, ASML had mostly reported middling results successful caller quarters, showing dilatory bookings growth. However, the banal doubled implicit the past six months connected signs that the semicap, oregon semiconductor rhythm is turning, and, indeed, its bookings soared successful the 4th quarter.

Investors didn't look to cognize what to marque of ASML's latest update. The banal jumped successful pre-market hours, trading up astir 5%, but rapidly turned antagonistic erstwhile the regular league began, possibly a reflection of valuation concerns.

ASML's gross roseate 6.6% successful the 4th to 7.58 cardinal euros, and net per stock was up 7.3% to 7.34.

However, investors seemed much impressed with the absorption of the concern arsenic it recorded 13.2 cardinal euros successful bookings successful the quarter, much than treble from the 4th a twelvemonth ago, and bookings for the twelvemonth roseate 48% to 28 cardinal euros, a bullish motion for aboriginal growth.

CEO Christophe Fouquet said, "Over the past quarters, we person seen a notable summation and acceleration of capableness enlargement readying crossed a ample bulk of our lawsuit base."

ASML's guidance for 2026 called for humble maturation arsenic it typically takes the institution 12 to 18 months to person bookings into revenue, erstwhile its machines are deployed. The institution sees gross of 34 billion-39 cardinal euros for 2026, implying 14.7% maturation astatine the midpoint.

ASML besides announced plans to chopped 1,700 jobs to streamline the concern and absorption connected engineering and innovation.

Given that ASML is the lone shaper of EUV equipment, it's hard to place its cardinal presumption successful the semiconductor manufacture and the emerging tailwind from AI.

EUV income arsenic a percent of systems went from 38% successful 2024 to 48% successful 2025, and that percent should proceed to turn this year.