Why ASML Holding Stock Exploded 46% Higher in the First Half of 2021

Though ASML Holding (NASDAQ: ASML) is already one of the largest companies in the semiconductor industry, its shares exploded 46% higher through the first half of 2021, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The Dutch tech giant is one of the pre-eminent suppliers of equipment needed to fabricate chips, focusing specifically on lithography machines that "print" circuitry patterns onto silicon wafers. With a chip shortage roiling the global supply chain of basic tech components and sending chip sales soaring, ASML stock was off to the races.

Many chip fabrication companies are in need of new equipment to manufacture more-advanced semiconductors, and ASML is a leader in developing new processes to make it all possible. Its customers include the world's largest chip fabricators like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE: TSM) and Samsung, among many others. The aforementioned global supply shortage of chips -- hastened by lots of new devices in need of circuitry like data centers, autos, smartphones, 5G mobile networks, and industrial equipment -- is also putting strain on these fabricators.

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Source Fool.com