ASML Holding NV (NASDAQ: ASML) is down 10% on Wednesday after the semiconductor firm warned it may not see any growth at all in 2026.
While the chip company did manage to beat expectations in its recently concluded quarter (Q2), Christophe Fouquet, its chief executive, said “while we still prepare for growth in 2026, we can’t confirm it at this stage” because of macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty, including tariffs.
Still, a senior Evercore ISI analyst, Mark Lipacis, recommends that investors load up on ASML stock on the post-earnings weakness today.
Why does Evercore remain positive on ASML stock?
According to Mark Lipacis, the Danish firm’s long-term growth story remains intact, even if 2026 proved to be a flat year.
Why? Because the management, nonetheless, talked of strong year-to-date demand for the firm’s AI offerings in the earnings release.
ASML is the leading provider of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography systems, which are crucial for manufacturing advanced chips.
Naturally, therefore, renowned names like Nvidia, Apple, and even TSMC are its customers.
Q2 net bookings coming in ahead of expectations further substantiate the narrative that customer demand remains resilient despite trade headwinds, the analyst added.
On Wednesday, Evercore reiterated its “outperform” rating on ASML shares with a price target of €803, indicating potential upside of well over 25% from current levels.
ASML shares are not particularly inexpensive to own
Even though the Evercore analyst dubbed the post-earnings pullback in ASML a buying opportunity, investors should note that the semiconductor stock is not particularly inexpensive to own at current levels.
ASML shares currently have a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of nearly 30, significantly below the likes of Nvidia, which is going for about 40 at the time of writing.
But here’s the catch: NVDA has guided for remarkable further growth in 2026, while ASML is not sure of even 1.0%.
Additionally, the Amsterdam-headquartered firm disappointed investors with its Q3 expectations as well on Wednesday.
ASML guided for up to €7.9 billion in revenue, meaningfully below the €8.3 billion that analysts had forecast.
This suggests ASML stock could see further weakness in the second half of this year.
Plus, while the chip company currently pays a dividend yield of 1.01%, it may not be sufficient to warrant owning it despite the aforementioned concerns.
Is it worth buying ASML stock at current levels?
Heading into Wednesday, Wall Street firms had a consensus “moderate buy” rating on the ASML stock.
However, some of them may revise estimates following the management’s warning over the next few days.
All in all, while the Nasdaq-listed firm may be pricing in a lot of bad news already, it’s worth mentioning that there still are significantly better ways to spend your capital in the semiconductor space than ASML.
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