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

By Mauro Orru

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

ASML shares in Amsterdam jumped more than 6% on Thursday, lifting the group's market value to 443.34 billion euros ($516.25 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 artificial intelligence boom.

Major technology companies have made hefty AI spending commitments in recent months, raising fears among investors 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 more spending from a client of TSMC's stature raises hopes that the company will need to purchase more of ASML's semiconductor-making machines to satisfy demand from its own customers like Nvidia or 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 are up more than 9% and 7%, respectively.

ASML's stock is up 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.

Write to Mauro Orru at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-15-26 0736ET