ASML, the Dutch company that holds a literal monopoly on the machines required to manufacture the world’s most advanced chips, just posted a quarter that shows exactly how insatiable the appetite for AI hardware has become. The company sold 86 new lithography systems in Q2 2026, including 16 of its most advanced extreme ultraviolet (EUV) machines.
Net sales hit €9.3 billion for the quarter, with net income landing at €2.9 billion. Both figures exceeded the company’s own prior guidance.
Why a lithography company matters to crypto and tech markets
ASML is the only commercial supplier of EUV lithography systems. Every cutting-edge semiconductor on Earth, whether it powers an Nvidia GPU training a large language model or sits inside a Bitcoin mining ASIC, traces its lineage back to an ASML machine.
The company’s customer list reads like a who’s who of the semiconductor world: TSMC, Intel, Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron. When these companies expand capacity to meet AI demand, they’re writing checks to ASML first.
