ASML, Nvidia, and Microsoft: New Investment Opportunities in AI

Bernstein upgraded ASML to Outperform from Market Perform with a price target of $1,528, up from $935. The firm also named ASML its top pick in European semiconductors for 2026. The company will benefit from the upcoming DRAM "super cycle," the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm says the top three DRAM makers are adding greenfield capacity in 2026 and accelerating the node migration, which is "great" for ASML. Bernstein believes 2026 and 2027 will be "big years" for extreme ultraviolet and for ASML.

Catch up on the weekend's top five stories with this list compiled by The Fly: 1. President Trump told Fox News that the U.S. will be "very strongly involved" in Venezuela's oil industry. Trump said, "What can I say? We have the greatest oil companies in the world, the biggest, the greatest, and we're going to be very much involved in it." Publicly traded companies in the space include BP (BP), Chevron (CVX), ConocoPhillips (COP), Exxon Mobil (XOM), Shell (SHEL) and TotalEnergies (TTE). 2. L3Harris (LHX) is nearing a deal to sell a 60% stake in a portfolio of space and propulsion businesses to AE Industrial Partners, Mike Stone as Reuters reports, citing three people familiar with the matter. This comes as the company works to sharpen its focus on national security. The deal could be announced as soon as Monday. L3Harris will retain a 40% stake in the portfolio of businesses and AE Industrial will pay over $500M for its 60% stake, two sources added. 3. Airbus (EADSY) exceeded its revised annual target of 790, delivering 793 aircraft in 2025, Siddharth Philip of Bloomberg reports, citing people familiar with the matter. The figures are currently preliminary and may change, the sources added. 4. In an effort to compete with Meituan in the Chinese food and dining sector, Alibaba (BABA) is launching a service meant to assist restaurants via AI to showcase interiors, Debby Wu of Bloomberg reports. Alibaba's maps and local services unit Amap will allow restaurants to create 3D-images by uploading videos or photos, which should lower the marketing and promotional costs for merchants, sources familiar with the matter said. 5. Bernstein upgraded ASML (ASML) to Outperform from Market Perform with a price target of $1,528, up from $935. The firm also named ASML its top pick in European semiconductors for 2026. The company will benefit from the upcoming DRAM "super cycle," the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm says the top three DRAM makers are adding greenfield capacity in 2026 and accelerating the node migration, which is "great" for ASML. Bernstein believes 2026 and 2027 will be "big years" for extreme ultraviolet and for ASML.

Aletheia Capital analyst Warren Lau double upgraded ASML to Buy from Sell with a Street-high price target of $1,500, up from $750. The firm increased its fiscal 2026 and 2027 earnings estimates "significantly" to reflect ASML's investment expansions and capacity upgrades. Stronger extreme ultraviolet lithography demand from DRAM suppliers, "resilient" deep ultraviolet orders from China a potential surge in TSMC demand in fiscal 2027 will drive upside to estimates, the analyst tells investors in a research note.

Cantor Fitzgerald raised the firm's price target on ASML to EUR 1,300 from EUR 1,150 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. The SOX is positioned to lead markets higher after outperforming the S&P by roughly 30 points in CY25, supported by the early stages of the AI era driving demand across compute, networking, memory, and equipment, the analyst tells investors in a research note. While cyclical factors may create mixed signals, the macro backdrop and expected exponential growth in AI infrastructure spending support a long position in the SOX and overweight exposure to AI-related plays into CY26, the firm says.