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Comment by bruce343434 | Hacker News Reader

Ok, and?

No but on a serious note, can someone give some context? Is there something special about these numbers that is newsworthy?

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It comes from ASML

They and TSMC are one of the hottest companies that additionally do hard engineering instead of social medias or ads

AMAT (Applied Materials) would be company representing the US in this space.

AMAT and ASML sell mostly complimentary semiconductor equipment to TSMC/Intel/Samsung (semiconductor manufacturers/fabs)

I wouldn't call ASML's products complimentary. They are the only machines capable of EUV lithography. Without EUV, nodes smaller than 7nm wouldn't be possible. But even before EUV they were the leading manufacturer of lithography machines. They deliver to all the big players like TSMC, Samsung and Intel.

They are so important/valuable that the US government is negotiating with the Dutch government to ban ASML from selling EUV machines to China.

They are negotiating DUV ban. EUV is banned for years now.

I remember bridgewater shorted ASML for big positions for no reason and then the news broke out that US government banned ASML from selling some stuff to China.

They were already able to ban, because ASML's EUV effort partly came out of a DARPA/US-industry consortium (EUV LLC from the 1990s).

They're complimentary products because lithography isn't useful if you don't have Etch, CVD, PVD, ALD, CMP, Implant, etc.

Neither AMAT nor ASML sell complimentary equipment. They sell vituperative, emotionally eviscerating, angry-at-the-world equipment.

Now I think their product lines complement each other nicely on a fab floor.

> They and TSMC are one of the hottest companies that additionally do hard engineering instead of social medias or ads

I really like the way you put this. Finally, a company actually worthy of being called a "technology company"!

They may be the most important/irreplaceable company in the world.

ASML has a monopoly on Extreme UV lithography machines which are needed for top end chips. So it's a pretty good picture of where investment in chip fabrication is heading.

ASML has many eyes balls on it, due to the potential in stock prices

Including the eye balls of Biden

Rather, ASML makes some equipment that you literally cannot get from anywhere else, and the stock price is reflecting this.

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