Amsterdam, Feb 7, 2026, 17:04 (CET) — Market closed.
- ASML ended Friday in positive territory in Amsterdam, with chip stocks rallying late in the week.
- U.S. chip stocks jumped, driven by hopes that rising AI spending from Big Tech will boost demand for hardware and equipment.
- Feb. 9 marks the ex-dividend date for ASML’s interim dividend in Amsterdam.
ASML Holding NV (ASML.AS) closed out Friday’s session on Euronext Amsterdam up 3.84% at 1,193.80 euros, recovering some ground after slipping earlier in the week. 1
ASML is planted right at the bottleneck for cutting-edge chip manufacturing, so the stock tends to react fast whenever investors shift their stance on AI hardware budgets. That bounce? It’s significant.
The weekend brings a market pause, yet the chatter hasn’t died down. Traders are already looking to Monday, eyeing if Friday’s sudden swing in chip sentiment sticks around—or disappears just as quickly as it showed up.
ASML shares listed on Nasdaq jumped 4.64% Friday to finish at $1,413.01. The stock swung between $1,340.77 and $1,415.70 during the session.
Chip stocks caught a strong bid after Amazon.com announced plans to hike its capital expenditures by more than 50% this year—coming just days after Alphabet pointed to higher AI-related outlays. Nvidia jumped 7.8%. The Philadelphia semiconductor index surged 5.7%. Baird’s Ross Mayfield called it “real demand for AI products” and pointed to “a necessity of a lot of spending” to keep pace. 2
STOXX 600 clawed back ground in Europe on Friday, with tech shares picking up 1.2% but still not enough to avoid their steepest weekly slide in nearly three months. “There’s a dislocation between software and hardware,” observed Sophie Huynh, portfolio manager and strategist at BNP Paribas Asset Management, as investors grappled with how to price the winners and losers in AI. 3
ASML shares in Amsterdam have been on a wild ride lately. The stock dropped 4.18% on Feb. 4 and lost another 2.81% the day before, Investing.com figures show. Then came a turnaround: up 0.79% on Feb. 5, and another 3.84% gain on Feb. 6. Still, Friday’s rally wasn’t enough to erase the week’s losses—ASML closed out the week around 2.5% under Monday’s level. 4
Since ASML’s results hit late last month, investors have zeroed in on the company’s fundamentals. The chip-equipment maker projected net sales between 34 billion and 39 billion euros for 2026, along with a gross margin in the 51% to 53% range. For 2025, sales landed at 32.7 billion euros. Net bookings in the fourth quarter reached 13.2 billion euros, with 7.4 billion euros coming from EUV systems — those high-end machines for chip patterning. ASML’s backlog, meanwhile, was 38.8 billion euros. CEO Christophe Fouquet pointed to a “notably more positive” mood among customers, driven by AI demand. 5
ASML is set to pay an interim dividend of 1.60 euros per share on Feb. 18, giving the stock a fresh catalyst. The ex-dividend date lands on Feb. 9 in Amsterdam, then Feb. 10 on Nasdaq, with shareholders on record as of Feb. 10 qualifying for the payout. 6
The capex angle isn’t one-sided. Big outlays might sustain hardware demand, but they just as easily stir up concerns over profitability, prompting some investors to trim positions in high-flying chip stocks—equipment makers included.
ASML traders are eyeing Monday’s open, with a Feb. 9 ex-dividend date in Amsterdam up first. U.S. holders watch for their own ex-dividend on Feb. 10. The cash payout lands Feb. 18.
