ASML, the Dutch lithography systems provider for the semiconductor industry, has seen its share price rise sharply by over 80% this year. Since January, the stock has risen from under $500 to nearly $900 in September. After a small correction at the beginning of October to almost $700, the stock is now back at around $850.
Over the past year, ASML stock has generated a return of 108.29%, which is 61.85% higher than the average return of 46.43% for stocks in the same sector “Information Technology”. The average annual return for securities from the same sector “Semiconductor and Semiconductor Equipment” is 45.85%. Asml is currently 62.44 percent above that level, a significant outperformance.
ASML Holding’s earnings, which were released on October 20, have also supported recent share price gains. ASML’s net sales amounted to €5.2 billion, which was at the lower end of expectations. For the coming quarter, the company expects sales of between 4.9 and 5.2 billion euros. Forecasts were weaker than expected due to some supply chain issues. In addition, the company intends to buy back shares worth 9 billion euros. In the third quarter, ASML bought back shares for around EUR 2.4 billion, and in recent weeks the buyback volume has increased due to the favourable share price values.
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