We recently compiled a list of the 20 High Growth Mega Cap Stocks You Can Buy And Hold For Next 5 Years. In this article, we are going to take a look at where ASML Holdings N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) stands against the other high growth mega cap stocks.
Exactly 5 years ago, the world struggled to deal with a black swan event: the COVID-19 pandemic. There was so much uncertainty that people didn’t even know if they’d be alive in the next few weeks, let alone figure out where the market was heading. Anyone who invested in the S&P 5 years ago would have gained 83%. If you had bought at the exact bottom, you’d have gained twice that amount.
What the above proves is that the present isn’t necessarily an indicator of what the future holds. All companies that had their workflows disrupted have recovered, some more than others. Some companies have strengthened their supply chains. Others have improved their work-from-home capabilities. Industries like airlines and restaurants have modified their business models to cater to the new dynamics.
These companies have been able to deal with the changing dynamics because of their financial strength and innovation. A company’s past performance and its finances give a good idea of whether it will be able to survive bad times. That’s why when we look at the best mega-cap stocks to hold for the next 5 years, we look at how well they have grown in the last 5 years.
To come up with our list of top 20 mega-cap stocks to hold for the next 5 years, we considered stocks with a market cap of at least $200 billion and a 5-year sales growth rate of at least 10%.
A technician in a clean room working on a semiconductor device, illuminated by the machines.
ASML Holdings N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML)
ASML Holdings N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) is a producer, developer, marketer, and seller of advanced semiconductor equipment systems. Its product range includes inspection systems, lithography, and metrology. The company has grown its revenue by 19.23% over the last 5 years.
ASML Holdings N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) makes lithography machines that are a critical part of the semiconductor chips manufacturing process. They are so important that the US has placed export restrictions on the company in a bid to stop China from acquiring advanced lithography machines. While this may be detrimental to the business in the short term, it does give credibility to the quality of its technology. Semiconductors aren’t going anywhere and will always rely on these lithography machines.
The recent emergence of DeepSeek AI did raise questions of whether big investments in AI are worth it. These concerns were quickly laid to rest by the Big Tech which reaffirmed its commitment to planned AI infrastructure investments. If this trend continues, the ASML Holdings N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) growth story should continue. The company comfortably beat analyst estimates in its Q4 earnings report thanks to spending on data centers and high-performance computing. Backing the company now is recommended if one intends to fully benefit from the long-term demand of the AI industry.
Overall ASML ranks 9th on our list of the high growth mega cap stocks you can buy and hold for the next 5 years. 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 timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as 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 was originally published at Insider Monkey.
