ASML Holding N.V. (ASML) Well Positioned as AI Fuels Chip Complexity

Sands Capital , an investment management company, released its second-quarter 2026 investor letter for "Sands Capital Global Growth Fund". The letter can be downloaded here . Global Growth seeks the best growth businesses worldwide, leveraging a research team that explores both developed and emerging markets for sustainable competitive advantages. In the quarter, global equities rebounded strongly, driven by AI infrastructure, a key market theme, with demand for computing capacity remaining robust and large tech firms maintaining significant capital investments. Emerging markets, led by Korea and Taiwan, outperformed U.S. and developed markets for six consecutive quarters. The strategy's portfolio returned 22.2%, outperforming the MSCI All Country World Index's 14.9%. The quarter's gains were mainly due to earnings growth in AI infrastructure businesses. Relative results were driven by information technology and industrials, while financials and communication services detracted. The strategy is positioned to capitalize on evolving growth opportunities, with substantial exposure to AI infrastructure and other long-term prospects. Also, check the fund's top five holdings to see its best picks in 2026.

In its second-quarter 2026 investor letter, Sands Capital Global Growth Fund highlighted ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ: ASML ) as a notable contributor. ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) is a Dutch-based semiconductor company that provides lithography solutions. On September 04, 2026, ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) closed at $1,714.88 per share. Over the past month, ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) has declined 1.07%, while its shares have gained 115.37% in the last 52 weeks. ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) has a market capitalization of $651.11 billion, and its stock has traded within a 52-week range of $786.75 to $1,999.96.

Sands Capital Global Growth Fund stated the following regarding ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) in its Q2 2026 investor letter:

"ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) is a Dutch semiconductor equipment company specializing in lithography systems, which chipmakers use to print patterns on silicon wafers. ASML's investment results primarily reflected rising long-term expectations for memory systems sales, as AI demand increases the need for advanced DRAM and logic chips. We believe lithography capacity could become one of the hardest constraints to scaling AI infrastructure, potentially creating tight supply conditions for years. Our bottom-up analysis suggests both Chinese and non-Chinese fabs may need to materially increase lithography capacity to meet AI chip demand. Agentic AI could also increase CPU intensity in data centers, with some observers expecting the CPU-to-GPU ratio to move from one CPU per four to eight GPUs toward one-to-one or higher. For ASML, more advanced CPUs and broader AI infrastructure buildout should support additional leading-edge logic demand. We believe ASML remains well positioned as AI drives greater chip complexity, higher wafer requirements, and increased lithography intensity."