Tech

There is exactly one company on earth that can sell you the machine required to manufacture the most advanced semiconductors in existence — and in 2026, that fact alone is reshaping the entire geopolitical order of technology. ASML EUV lithography systems sit at the absolute center of the global chip supply chain, functioning less like industrial equipment and more like a sovereign chokepoint. With a market capitalization of $560 billion and shares that have already surged over 30% this year, ASML is no longer merely a Dutch precision engineering company — it is the single most strategically consequential manufacturer in the world economy, and every major power from Washington to Beijing is acutely aware of it. Read more »