We recently published a list of 10 Hottest Mega-Cap Stocks So Far in 2025. In this article, we are going to take a look at where ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) stands against other hottest mega-cap stocks so far in 2025.

Many mega-cap stocks have started 2025 with a bang and we’ll be taking a closer look into each of them to learn why they’ve performed so well already.

If you skim the trends in the past two years, it should be clear that it’s worthwhile to look into mega-cap stocks that have gained a lot already. Investors who defied the conventional wisdom and doubled down on the mega-cap stocks last year have outperformed the benchmark index by a wide margin.

We used a stock screener and sorted public companies — those tagged by the screener as trading in the U.S. — with a market capitalization above $100 billion by their year-to-date (YTD) gains.

Will lightning strike again this year and take these stocks even higher by the end of 2025? It’s not rational to paint all these companies with the same brush, so let’s dive into the nitty gritty of each mega-cap stock in this list.

A technician in a clean room working on a semiconductor device, illuminated by the machines.

ASML Holding (ASML)

• YTD Total Return: 7.27%

In plain terms, ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) builds the machines that chip manufacturers, like Intel or TSMC, need to “print” tiny circuitry patterns onto silicon wafers. ASML is also on this list due to a recovery. The stock lost almost 40% of its value in its selloff from July to November and has slowly started to recover since then.

The company reported its third-quarter 2024 results with net sales of €7.5 billion and net income of €2.1 billion. ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) also revised its longer-term outlook for 2025, saying it expects total net sales that year to land between €30 billion and €35 billion, with a gross margin between 51% and 53%. That guidance is a bit on the cautious side compared to what some investors had in mind, and the stock price took a notable hit when the news broke, hence the selloff lasted well into November.

However, you can see that ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) is still doing quite well overall, even if short-term external factors have nudged them to lower some forecasts. Management remains optimistic about the future thanks to strong demand for advanced chip-making tools like extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and even higher-end “High NA” EUV systems. Bookings did decline (to €2.6 billion from €5.6 billion the quarter before), which some executives attributed partly to customers delaying orders due to caution about the economic environment. That said, ASML’s sales, profit margins, and cash flows have all trended upward over the years. It’s the only manufacturer of the most advanced lithography machines that today’s (and tomorrow’s) chips need.

Obviously, there’s been some near-term caution in the market, and the company’s own guidance acknowledges a slower-than-hoped recovery. But at the same time, analysts see plenty of reason to stay bullish given ASML’s underlying dominance of its niche. If you want cutting-edge chips, you basically need ASML somewhere in the picture. So, I think those YTD returns could end up fattening up in the coming months.

Overall, ASML ranks 8th on our list of hottest mega-cap stocks so far in 2025. While we acknowledge the potential of ASML as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than ASML but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.