ASML vs. Nvidia: Who Really Captures the AI Chip Boom?

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) makes the machines that make the world's most advanced chips, yet Nvidia(NASDAQ:NVDA) brings in nearly 10 times as much revenue -- here's why that gap exists, and why it doesn't make ASML the weaker business.

ASML: Steady Growth From the Sole EUV Supplier

ASML Holding primarily generates revenue by designing, manufacturing, and selling advanced extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and deep ultraviolet lithography systems that global semiconductor manufacturers require to produce highly complex integrated circuits for modern electronic devices.

It recently initiated construction of a major new Eindhoven manufacturing campus to systematically expand its operational footprint, and it concurrently faced ongoing geopolitical discussions about potential United States export restrictions affecting its older equipment lines.

Nvidia: The Company Capturing the AI Spending

Nvidia primarily earns its revenue by developing the advanced graphics processing units (GPUs), specialized computational platforms, and high-performance networking solutions widely utilized across enterprise data centers, global gaming platforms, and emerging automotive systems worldwide.

It recently introduced several new modular infrastructure designs to drastically reduce data center deployment times across Europe. At the same time, the United States Department of Justice formally opened an antitrust investigation into the licensing agreement between the United States Department of Justice and Groq.

Why Revenue Matters for Investors

Revenue here refers to the income statement revenue line item, which helps investors gauge a company's ability to sustain consistent customer demand over time.

ASML Holding vs. Nvidia Revenue over the last 8 quarters. Figures: ASML Holding shown in U.S. dollars, converted from euros.

Quarterly Revenue for ASML Holding and Nvidia

Data source: Financial Modeling Prep. ASML Holding's figures are converted from euros to U.S. dollars. Data as of Oct. 22, 2026.

Foolish Take

The first thing that jumps out between these two top semiconductor stocks is their revenue gap. Despite ASML's dominant position supplying the chipmaking equipment that is used to make Nvidia and a host of other companies' chips, Nvidia generates nearly 10 times as much revenue.

The main reason for this is that Nvidia's chips are the tools that convert AI compute into revenue, which is extremely valuable for data centers. ASML merely supplies the equipment to chipmakers like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing to build chips, but Nvidia is the one capturing the most value in the AI supply chain.

This shows up in their margins, too. Nvidia keeps 74 cents of every dollar of revenue as pre-tax profit, while ASML keeps only 49 cents, as of their recent quarters.

Still, it's important to keep in mind that relative revenue and margins don't measure importance. ASML is arguably the more important company in the AI supply chain, since it's the sole supplier of EUV machines used to print the intricate circuit patterns on the silicon wafers. Without ASML, the economy would be starved of chips, and Nvidia would have no chips to sell.

ASML may never catch Nvidia in revenue, but that doesn't mean ASML is an inferior business. Given the competition Nvidia faces from other chip designers like Broadcom, ASML may be the safer stock for investors to profit from the AI chip boom. However, Nvidia's faster growth rate may offer more long-term upside potential.

John Ballard has positions in Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends ASML, Broadcom, Nvidia, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.