Key Highlights

● ASML closed at $1,560.54 on October 22, joining the equipment-stock selloff.

● ASML makes extreme ultraviolet lithography machines for advanced chips.

● European stocks had their biggest drop in three weeks.

● China's CSI 300 entered a bear market.

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) slid on Thursday, October 22, 2026, closing at $1,560.54 and joining the selloff in semiconductor-equipment stocks on the Nasdaq-100.

The Dutch maker of chipmaking machines had no company-specific news. Its decline was a read-through from Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX), the US equipment supplier whose quarterly report late Wednesday warned of supply constraints across the industry.

A US warning with global reach

ASML makes extreme ultraviolet lithography machines, the tools used to print the most advanced chips. It sells to the same chipmakers as Lam, Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) and KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC), so warnings from one equipment maker tend to move the whole group.

Lam reported record revenue of $8.22 billion and adjusted earnings of $2.20 a share. But its December-quarter guidance of $8.6 billion, plus or minus $400 million, came with a caution about supply. Lam's chief financial officer said "things are going to continue to be constrained," and Lam's chief executive said clean-room and component constraints will "limit chip makers and equipment companies' ability to fully meet end demand" into 2027.

That message hit the sector hard. Lam's shares plunged, KLA and Applied Materials sank, and ASML's Nasdaq-listed shares followed. ASML had already been lower in the morning before the losses widened through the day.

Europe and Asia were also under pressure

The weakness was global. European stocks suffered their biggest drop in three weeks, according to market data, with France's CAC 40 among the decliners. France's bond market was also in focus: its 10-year yield rose above the US 10-year yield for the first time since 2013.

In Asia, South Korea's Kospi, Hong Kong's Hang Seng and Japan's Nikkei all fell sharply, and China's CSI 300 entered a bear market, according to market data.

The AI spending scare

The equipment selloff coincided with growing doubts about AI financing. Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) narrowed its 2026 capital-spending range to $135 billion to $145 billion and posted negative free cash flow of $2.12 billion, its first cash outflow in more than a decade, according to market data. Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA)'s chief executive said that "the demand of the capital is much greater than the availability of the capital."

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index had its biggest one-day drop since June 23. The Nasdaq-100 lost about $1.32 trillion in market value. The Nasdaq Composite fell 694.00 points to 26,008.86, its steepest drop since June 5, and the S&P 500 fell 93.74 points to 7,663.43.

Supply limits, not missing demand

For ASML, the nuance in Lam's message may matter. The constraints Lam described relate to the ability to meet demand, not to a lack of orders. The company said shortages would limit the industry's ability to "fully meet end demand," wording that points to a capacity problem rather than a shortage of customers.

ASML Watches Europe and French Bonds

Teradyne (NASDAQ:TER) reports on October 27, offering another read on chip-equipment demand. Next week's earnings from Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) on October 28 and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) on October 29 will shape expectations for data-center chip production, and in turn for orders of ASML's machines. Investors will also watch European markets and French bonds for signs of further stress, and the Federal Reserve's decision on October 28.