ASML makes the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines that print the tiniest circuit patterns onto computer chips — equipment so complex that ASML is the only company in the world that can build the most advanced versions — selling each one for tens to hundreds of millions of euros to a small handful of the world's leading chipmakers.
How ASML makes money
ASML designs and assembles lithography machines — equipment that "prints" ultra-fine circuit patterns onto silicon wafers — and is the only company on Earth capable of building the most advanced version, EUV (extreme ultraviolet) lithography systems. It sources critical components like optics (from Zeiss) and lasers (from Trumpf) across a network of 5,100 suppliers, sells finished machines for tens to hundreds of millions of euros each, then earns ongoing revenue servicing and upgrading them after installation.
Post-installation service and upgrade revenue reached €8.2B in 2025 (25.1% of total), growing 26.2% year over year — faster than new-machine sales — meaning a growing share of revenue now comes from ASML's already-installed base. Source: 20-F FY2025, p.55.
Where the revenue comes from
| Type | Revenue | Share | YoY growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Systems (new machines) | €24.5bn | 74.9% | +12.4% |
| Service & field options | €8.2bn | 25.1% | +26.2% |
Service's share of revenue has climbed steadily: 20.4% (2023) → 23.0% (2024) → 25.1% (2025). Source: 20-F FY2025, p.55; FY2024, p.56.
Geographically (by customer facility location, FY2025): China is 29.1%, Taiwan 25.5%, South Korea 25.0%, the U.S. 12.5%, Japan 4.3%, and other regions 3.5% — 86% of revenue comes from just five Asian markets.
Source: 20-F FY2025, Note 2, p.289.
Customers and competitors
For competitive reasons, ASML doesn't disclose customer names in its 20-F — based on its geographic revenue mix, industry watchers widely believe TSMC, Samsung, SK Hynix, Intel, and Micron are its major customers, though this isn't confirmed in any filing page. What the filings do disclose is stark concentration: the single largest customer made up 23.9% of FY2025 revenue (€7,796.7M), the top 2 customers combined for 38.0%, and the 4 customers each individually above 10% together accounted for 61.2% (€20.0bn).
- Nikon (Japan) — competes directly with ASML, but only in older-generation DUV lithography; Nikon cannot build EUV machines.
- Canon (Japan) — like Nikon, competes only in the lower-cost, older DUV segment, with no presence in EUV.
- Applied Materials & KLA (U.S.) — not lithography competitors at all, but adjacent-process equipment makers (deposition, etch, metrology) whose businesses overlap and sometimes cooperate with ASML's "holistic lithography" strategy.
Source: 20-F FY2025, p.70 (customer concentration), p.67 (competition).
The metric that matters most in this sector
Unit sales alone can be misleading for ASML — what matters more is the average selling price (ASP) per system, since a shift toward newer, pricier machines can grow revenue even while unit volume falls. In 2025, ASML sold fewer systems overall (327, down from 418 in 2024) yet revenue still rose, because a growing share were newer, far more expensive High-NA EUV machines. If ASP growth ever stalls, it would call into question ASML's underlying "technology edge" story.
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ASP (systems) | €44M | €45M | €49M | €52M | €75M |
| EUV systems shipped | 42 | 40 | 53 | 44 | 48 |
ASP jumped 43.6% in 2025 alone, driven by the newer High-NA EUV machines entering the mix — a very different growth driver than simply shipping more units.
ASP is calculated as system revenue divided by units sold. Source: 20-F FY2025, p.55; FY2022, p.45 (2021-2022 unit counts).
Leadership and ownership
CEO Christophe Fouquet (b. 1973, French) has led ASML since April 24, 2024, as President, CEO, and Chairman of the Board. He joined ASML in 2008, led the EUV business unit (2018-2022), then served as Chief Business Officer (2022-2024) before becoming CEO — and before ASML, worked at competitors KLA-Tencor and Applied Materials. ASML was founded in 1984 as a joint venture between Philips and ASM International, neither of which remains involved in management today.
Combined insider/officer ownership percentage wasn't disclosed clearly enough in the filings reviewed to state a precise total. Source: 20-F FY2025, p.80, p.129 (executive bios).
Capital returns
ASML has proposed an annual dividend of €7.50/share for FY2025, up from €6.40 in FY2024, at roughly a 0.5% yield against the current dollar share price. It repurchased €5.9bn of stock in 2025 (versus just €0.5bn in 2024) — combined dividends and buybacks totaled €8.5bn, or about 91.7% of net income for the year.
Source: 20-F FY2025, p.44, p.317.
How this company could fail
- Customer concentration risk — a single customer made up 23.9% of FY2025 revenue, and the top 4 customers combined for 61.2%. Any one of them delaying capital spending can move ASML's results significantly.
- Geopolitical and export-control risk — 86% of revenue comes from Asia, especially China, Taiwan, and South Korea. Tightened Dutch, U.S., or Japanese export restrictions on China, or a worsening Taiwan Strait situation, could block sales outright.
- Semiconductor cycle risk — revenue growth swung from 30.2% (2023) to just 2.6% (2024) in a single year. This is a deeply cyclical industry, and when customers pull back capital spending, ASML feels it almost immediately.
Source: 20-F FY2025, p.70 (customer concentration); p.289 (geographic revenue, own calculation); p.55-56, 61 (revenue growth, own calculation).
Five-year financials
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 18,611 | 21,173 | 27,559 | 28,263 | 32,667 |
| YoY growth | — | +13.8% | +30.2% | +2.6% | +15.6% |
| Operating income (margin) | 6,750 (36.3%) | 6,501 (30.7%) | 9,042 (32.8%) | 9,023 (31.9%) | 11,301 (34.6%) |
| Net income | 5,883 | 5,624 | 7,839 | 7,572 | 9,609 |
| Free cash flow | 9,906 | 7,168 | 3,247 | 9,083 | 11,027 |
FCF = operating cash flow minus capex minus capitalized intangibles. Source: 20-F FY2025 p.55, FY2024 p.57, FY2022 p.45.
What we still don't know
- The exact revenue split between EUV (advanced) and DUV (older) systems isn't separately disclosed in the 20-F — recent earnings materials (Form 6-K) would need to be checked.
- The identities of ASML's actual customers aren't named in filings, appearing only as "Customer A," "Customer B," and so on.
- How a January 2026-announced restructuring (roughly 1,700 job cuts in technology and IT roles) will affect results isn't reflected in the FY2025 20-F (covering the year ended December 2025) — a subsequent 6-K or the next 20-F would need to be checked.
- The precise combined ownership percentage held by executives and directors could not be determined clearly from the filings reviewed here.
Frequently asked questions
How does ASML make money?
ASML designs and builds lithography machines — equipment that prints ultra-fine circuit patterns onto silicon wafers — and is the only company in the world capable of building the most advanced (EUV) versions. It earns 74.9% of revenue from new machine sales and 25.1% from ongoing service and upgrades on machines already installed at customer sites.
Why does ASML file a 20-F instead of a 10-K?
ASML is a Dutch company headquartered in Veldhoven, Netherlands, making it a 'foreign private issuer' under SEC rules — it files an annual Form 20-F instead of a 10-K, and reports its financials in euros rather than dollars, even though its shares trade on Nasdaq in dollars.
What is ASML's market cap?
As of this article's data, ASML's market cap was about $653.7B (€562.8B), on FY2025 revenue of €32.7B.