Could ASML Be The Next Major AI Stock to Split Its Shares?

ASML (NASDAQ: ASML) is one of the most important companies in the world. ASML pioneered an incredibly complex lithography process known as EUV that is the only way to make the world’s most cutting-edge semiconductors. With shares currently trading above $1,000 and a history of splitting during significant technological trends, ASML is well-positioned for another potential stock split. We look at the case for a stock split and assess whether ASML deserves a place in your portfolio. 

Could an ASML Stock Split Be Coming Soon?

Highlights of the discussion between 24/7 Wall Street Analysts Eric Bleeker and Austin Smith can be found below.

• ASML is one of the most exciting companies in the stock market.
• It works on unfathomably complex semiconductor equipment. That's a space that's long been in the background, but thanks to AI now has its time in the spotlight.
• Trading at over $1,000 per share, we wanted to analyze whether the company could be the next tech stock to split its shares.
• Companies announcing stock splits have been attracting a lot of attention. NVIDIA jumped nearly 50% in the month after its stock split announcement. Broadcom jumped 22% in the three days after its stock split announcement.
• So, while stock splits don't technically change the value of companies, they have become something akin to a "marketing event" for stocks that attracts a lot of attention.
• ASML is one of our “favorite” stories in the stock market. It's one of Europe’s GRANOLA stocks, which is kind of the continent's equivalent to the Magnificent 7 in the United States. 
• ASML makes lithography equipment, which is the central technology that takes impossibly complex semiconductor designs and prints them onto silicon wafers. 
• You can find a graphic below on the incredible complexity of the EUV equipment ASML makes. The R&D process of creating it was so time-consuming and capital-intensive that its core rivals (Nikon and Canon) simply ceased development and ASML has a "monopoly" today.

• The long-term history of ASML's share price growth is fantastic. They’ve returned more than 50-fold in the past 20 years. Their recent performance is outstanding as well, and they have a management team that are proven operators. 
• And most importantly, ASML has a monopoly in the most advanced semiconductor manufacturing! That’s right past a certain point in semiconductor development, they simply don't have any competitors. 
• And reports out this week have their newest machines, which will be selling to customers by the end of the decade, going for $700 million each. 
• ASML currently trades above $1,000 per share. In the late 90s when there was a similar boom, it split its shares three times – in 1997, 1998, and 2000. 
• So, there is a history of stock splits here. 
• We're big fans of ASML. I (24/7 Wall St. Analyst Eric Bleeker) have been adding to it opportunistically. Like all semiconductor stocks, it is going to go through cycles. 
• But if you’re looking for a stock with what we’d call a moat – or a really strong competitive position – that’s going to be relevant throughout the next decade no matter what the competition can throw at it. Then you won’t do better than ASML. As always, think of the potential for a split being the cherry on top, but this is one stock I think isn’t just a buy, but a core holding.

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