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ASML vs. QCOM: Which Semiconductor Stock is the Better Buy Now?
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Key Takeaways
ASML emerges as the better investment option, backed by stronger 2026 growth and stock performance.
ASML's 2026 sales and EPS estimates imply 36% and 61% growth, while QCOM's point to declines.
QCOM trades at a lower price/sales ratio, but ASML has gained 115% over the past year.
ASML Holding N.V. (ASML - Free Report) and Qualcomm Incorporated (QCOM - Free Report) are two premier semiconductor firms focusing on AI (artificial intelligence), advanced chip technologies and the data center semiconductor ecosystem. Both players are well-positioned to benefit from growing demand for advanced computing, with ASML supplying the lithography equipment essential for manufacturing semiconductors and Qualcomm expanding its AI accelerator and data-center CPU roadmap, expanding its Snapdragon X lineup into Windows laptops and desktops.
ASML provides sophisticated hardware, software and systems that enable semiconductor manufacturers to produce increasingly smaller, faster and more energy-efficient chips. Its technologies are primarily used in the lithography stage of semiconductor manufacturing, in which complex circuit patterns are transferred onto silicon wafers.
Qualcomm offers high-performance, low-power chip designs for mobile devices, PCs, XR (Extended Reality), automotive, wearable, robotics, connectivity and AI use cases. The company boasts a comprehensive intellectual property portfolio comprising 4G, 5G and other technologies. Qualcomm’s brands include Snapdragon systems-on-chip, FastConnect Wi-Fi and Bluetooth systems, and Qualcomm-branded 4G, 5G and IOT equipment. The company is currently integrating on-device generative AI into all of its product lines.
Let us try to analyze some of the competitive strengths and weaknesses of the companies to understand who is in a better position to maximize gains from the emerging market trends.
The Case for ASML
Rapid expansion of AI infrastructure is one of ASML's most powerful growth catalysts. Training and inference workloads require increasingly powerful and energy-efficient processors, which are accelerating the transition toward smaller process nodes and more advanced memory technologies. The ongoing investments and continued progress in AI technologies are further boosting demand for both advanced Logic and Memory chips. Semiconductor manufacturers are accelerating capacity expansion plans, resulting in stronger commitments across ASML's product portfolio.
ASML's decision to materially increase manufacturing capacity provides another indication of strengthening demand visibility. Based on strong customer commitments, the company plans to increase its 2027 Low-NA EUV capacity by approximately 30% from its 2026 capacity of roughly 65 systems. It is also evaluating another roughly 30% capacity increase for 2028. A similar expansion is also underway for immersion DUV. ASML plans to raise capacity by approximately 30% in 2027 from a 2026 level of roughly 130 systems and is evaluating another 30% increase for 2028. Capacity expansion suggests that customers are providing ASML with higher visibility into their multi-year fab and technology plans.
However, management attributes the current demand environment primarily to AI-related investment and the resulting need for more advanced Logic and Memory capacity. Although this has produced unusually long order visibility for ASML, it makes the growth profile increasingly dependent on customers maintaining those expansion plans. A slower pace of customer investment would therefore affect both system demand and utilization of the larger production footprint ASML is preparing, resulting in elevated operational risks.
The Case for QCOM
Qualcomm is well-positioned to meet its long-term revenue targets, driven by solid 5G traction, greater visibility and a diversified revenue stream. The company is increasingly focusing on the seamless transition from a wireless communications firm for the mobile industry to a connected processor company for the intelligent edge. Qualcomm is witnessing healthy traction in edge networking, which helps transform connectivity in cars, business enterprises, homes, smart factories, next-generation PCs, wearables and tablets. The automotive telematics and connectivity platforms, digital cockpit and C-V2X solutions are also fueling emerging automotive industry trends such as the growth of connected vehicles, the transformation of the in-car experience and vehicle electrification.
The company is aiming to extend its Oryon CPU and AI acceleration beyond smartphones into PCs and servers. Management observed that its 2026 Snapdragon X2 PC platforms are in production and positioned to enable always-on agentic experiences, supported by a Hexagon NPU delivering up to 85 TOPS. Qualcomm is entering the custom silicon space with a leading hyperscaler and expects initial shipments in the December quarter, adding a revenue stream that is not tied to handset unit cycles. The Alphawave buyout has added high-speed wired connectivity IP and custom silicon capabilities to help accelerate the company’s expansion into data centers.
Despite efforts to ramp up its AI initiatives, Qualcomm has been facing tough competition from ASML in the AI PC market. A shift in the share among OEMs at the premium tier has reduced Qualcomm's near-term opportunity to sell integrated chipsets from the Snapdragon platform. Memory supply constraints and related pricing are adversely impacting its handset revenues as OEMs (particularly in China) continue to draw down channel inventory.
How Do Zacks Estimates Compare for ASML & QCOM?
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ASML’s 2026 sales implies year-over-year growth of 36%, while that for EPS indicates a surge of 61%. The EPS estimates have trended up 22.9% over the past 60 days.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Qualcomm’s fiscal 2026 sales indicates a year-over-year decline of 2.8%, while that for EPS suggests a fall of 12.4%. The EPS estimates have trended down 1.9% over the past 60 days.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Price Performance & Valuation of ASML & QCOM
Over the past year, Qualcomm has jumped 9.2% compared with the industry’s growth of 34.3%. ASML has gained a stellar 115% over the same period.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Qualcomm looks more attractive than ASML from a valuation standpoint. Going by the price/sales ratio, ASML’s shares currently trade at 11.61 forward sales, higher than 4.18 for Qualcomm.
ASML expects revenues and earnings to improve in 2026, unlike Qualcomm. In terms of price performance, ASML has outperformed Qualcomm, though it is trading at a slight premium. With long-term growth expectations of 44.9%, ASML appears to be relatively better placed than QCOM’s likely growth of 6.2%. Consequently, ASML is a better investment option at the moment.
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ASML vs. QCOM: Which Semiconductor Stock is the Better Buy Now?
Key Takeaways
ASML Holding N.V. (ASML - Free Report) and Qualcomm Incorporated (QCOM - Free Report) are two premier semiconductor firms focusing on AI (artificial intelligence), advanced chip technologies and the data center semiconductor ecosystem. Both players are well-positioned to benefit from growing demand for advanced computing, with ASML supplying the lithography equipment essential for manufacturing semiconductors and Qualcomm expanding its AI accelerator and data-center CPU roadmap, expanding its Snapdragon X lineup into Windows laptops and desktops.
ASML provides sophisticated hardware, software and systems that enable semiconductor manufacturers to produce increasingly smaller, faster and more energy-efficient chips. Its technologies are primarily used in the lithography stage of semiconductor manufacturing, in which complex circuit patterns are transferred onto silicon wafers.
Qualcomm offers high-performance, low-power chip designs for mobile devices, PCs, XR (Extended Reality), automotive, wearable, robotics, connectivity and AI use cases. The company boasts a comprehensive intellectual property portfolio comprising 4G, 5G and other technologies. Qualcomm’s brands include Snapdragon systems-on-chip, FastConnect Wi-Fi and Bluetooth systems, and Qualcomm-branded 4G, 5G and IOT equipment. The company is currently integrating on-device generative AI into all of its product lines.
Let us try to analyze some of the competitive strengths and weaknesses of the companies to understand who is in a better position to maximize gains from the emerging market trends.
The Case for ASML
Rapid expansion of AI infrastructure is one of ASML's most powerful growth catalysts. Training and inference workloads require increasingly powerful and energy-efficient processors, which are accelerating the transition toward smaller process nodes and more advanced memory technologies. The ongoing investments and continued progress in AI technologies are further boosting demand for both advanced Logic and Memory chips. Semiconductor manufacturers are accelerating capacity expansion plans, resulting in stronger commitments across ASML's product portfolio.
ASML's decision to materially increase manufacturing capacity provides another indication of strengthening demand visibility. Based on strong customer commitments, the company plans to increase its 2027 Low-NA EUV capacity by approximately 30% from its 2026 capacity of roughly 65 systems. It is also evaluating another roughly 30% capacity increase for 2028. A similar expansion is also underway for immersion DUV. ASML plans to raise capacity by approximately 30% in 2027 from a 2026 level of roughly 130 systems and is evaluating another 30% increase for 2028. Capacity expansion suggests that customers are providing ASML with higher visibility into their multi-year fab and technology plans.
However, management attributes the current demand environment primarily to AI-related investment and the resulting need for more advanced Logic and Memory capacity. Although this has produced unusually long order visibility for ASML, it makes the growth profile increasingly dependent on customers maintaining those expansion plans. A slower pace of customer investment would therefore affect both system demand and utilization of the larger production footprint ASML is preparing, resulting in elevated operational risks.
The Case for QCOM
Qualcomm is well-positioned to meet its long-term revenue targets, driven by solid 5G traction, greater visibility and a diversified revenue stream. The company is increasingly focusing on the seamless transition from a wireless communications firm for the mobile industry to a connected processor company for the intelligent edge. Qualcomm is witnessing healthy traction in edge networking, which helps transform connectivity in cars, business enterprises, homes, smart factories, next-generation PCs, wearables and tablets. The automotive telematics and connectivity platforms, digital cockpit and C-V2X solutions are also fueling emerging automotive industry trends such as the growth of connected vehicles, the transformation of the in-car experience and vehicle electrification.
The company is aiming to extend its Oryon CPU and AI acceleration beyond smartphones into PCs and servers. Management observed that its 2026 Snapdragon X2 PC platforms are in production and positioned to enable always-on agentic experiences, supported by a Hexagon NPU delivering up to 85 TOPS. Qualcomm is entering the custom silicon space with a leading hyperscaler and expects initial shipments in the December quarter, adding a revenue stream that is not tied to handset unit cycles. The Alphawave buyout has added high-speed wired connectivity IP and custom silicon capabilities to help accelerate the company’s expansion into data centers.
Despite efforts to ramp up its AI initiatives, Qualcomm has been facing tough competition from ASML in the AI PC market. A shift in the share among OEMs at the premium tier has reduced Qualcomm's near-term opportunity to sell integrated chipsets from the Snapdragon platform. Memory supply constraints and related pricing are adversely impacting its handset revenues as OEMs (particularly in China) continue to draw down channel inventory.
How Do Zacks Estimates Compare for ASML & QCOM?
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ASML’s 2026 sales implies year-over-year growth of 36%, while that for EPS indicates a surge of 61%. The EPS estimates have trended up 22.9% over the past 60 days.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Qualcomm’s fiscal 2026 sales indicates a year-over-year decline of 2.8%, while that for EPS suggests a fall of 12.4%. The EPS estimates have trended down 1.9% over the past 60 days.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Price Performance & Valuation of ASML & QCOM
Over the past year, Qualcomm has jumped 9.2% compared with the industry’s growth of 34.3%. ASML has gained a stellar 115% over the same period.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Qualcomm looks more attractive than ASML from a valuation standpoint. Going by the price/sales ratio, ASML’s shares currently trade at 11.61 forward sales, higher than 4.18 for Qualcomm.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
ASML or QCOM: Which is a Better Pick?
Both ASML and QCOM currently carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
ASML expects revenues and earnings to improve in 2026, unlike Qualcomm. In terms of price performance, ASML has outperformed Qualcomm, though it is trading at a slight premium. With long-term growth expectations of 44.9%, ASML appears to be relatively better placed than QCOM’s likely growth of 6.2%. Consequently, ASML is a better investment option at the moment.