Financial Comparison: ASML (ASML) & The Competition

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) is one of 221 publicly-traded companies in the “Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment” industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare ASML to related companies based on the strength of its risk, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends and valuation.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

26.1% of ASML shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 54.8% of shares of all “Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment” companies are owned by institutional investors. 11.5% of shares of all “Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for ASML and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ASML	3	2	17	2	2.75
ASML Competitors	3513	12381	25825	1003	2.57

ASML presently has a consensus price target of $2,204.71, indicating a potential upside of 41.54%. As a group, “Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment” companies have a potential upside of 33.55%. Given ASML’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe ASML is more favorable than its peers.

Dividends

ASML pays an annual dividend of $7.13 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. ASML pays out 17.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment” companies pay a dividend yield of 0.9% and pay out 28.7% of their earnings in the form of a dividend.

Risk & Volatility

ASML has a beta of 1.8, suggesting that its stock price is 80% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ASML’s peers have a beta of 2.79, suggesting that their average stock price is 179% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares ASML and its peers gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
ASML	$36.95 billion	$10.87 billion	38.35
ASML Competitors	$39.42 billion	$2.53 billion	10.19

ASML’s peers have higher revenue, but lower earnings than ASML. ASML is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Profitability

This table compares ASML and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ASML	34.10%	64.24%	26.08%
ASML Competitors	-1,266.87%	-126.22%	-3.89%

Summary

ASML beats its peers on 10 of the 15 factors compared.

ASML Company Profile

ASML Holding N.V. is a Netherlands-based technology company that develops and manufactures equipment used to produce semiconductor chips. Its systems are used by chipmakers to create the intricate patterns that form circuits on silicon wafers. The company’s products include extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography systems, along with metrology and inspection equipment, computational lithography software, and related services. ASML also supports customers with system maintenance, upgrades, and technical assistance.