10 Best Foreign Stocks To Buy Now

4. ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q2 2024: 81

ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) is a Dutch industrial machinery company that specializes in manufacturing semiconductor fabrication equipment. It is Europe’s most valuable stock in terms of market capitalization, which is unsurprising given its monopoly in the high end chip making equipment sector. ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) is the only firm in the world that sells EUV and high NA EUV machines to firms like Intel and TSMC. These machines are indispensable for manufacturing the latest chips with semiconductor processes such as 5 nanometers, 3 nanometers, and 2 nanometers since their low wavelength and other technical specifications allow manufacturers to print minute circuits easily on a silicon wafer. Naturally, this provides ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) with a wide moat which is unlikely to go away in the future. However, its revenue is vulnerable to cyclical downturns in the semiconductor industry and geopolitical tensions restricting product sales.

Polen Capital mentioned ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) in its Q4 2023 investor letter. Here is what the fund said:

“Netherlands-based ASML and Japan-based Lasertec play dominant roles within different segments of the global semiconductor industry. In both cases, shares rallied significantly in the fourth quarter of 2023, prompting our positions to grow as a percentage of the overall portfolio. We believe both companies will see demand for their products as extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography and soon high-numerical aperture lithography must be utilized to manufacture the world’s smallest chips. However, in our estimation, 2024 could deliver a year of less exciting growth for the semiconductor industry, which prompted us to trim these positions back.”