Besi sheds 3% on a patent count that SemiAnalysis says points to an ASML hybrid bonder
Besi shares fell 3% to 158.50 euros after SemiAnalysis read 27 ASML patent filings as evidence of a hybrid bonding tool. ASML has not confirmed the tool, so the market is pricing a patent count.
The Investor · Invest desk
ASML shares were up 1.1% and Besi shares down 3% in midday Amsterdam trading. SemiAnalysis counted 27 ASML patent families related to hybrid bonding tools, filed December 2022 to November 2024; the number could be higher.
| Figure | Value | Note | Claim |
|---|---|---|---|
| ASML shares, midday Amsterdam trading | 1.1% up | 6 | |
| Besi shares, same session | 3% down | 6 | |
| ASML hybrid bonding patent families, per SemiAnalysis | 27 families | Dec 2022 to Nov 2024; could be higher | 2 |
What happened
- An ASML spokesperson declined to comment on the report and pointed instead to the first advanced packaging tool the company launched last year.
- In March, Reuters reported that ASML was planning additional packaging tools, citing Chief Technical Officer Marco Pieters.
- ASML shares rose 1.1% to 1,480 euros in midday Amsterdam trading while Besi fell.
Why it matters
- Who's exposed exposure Besi's hybrid bonding line, one of its main growth products, now has a far larger potential rival, though the exposure rests on patents and not on a shipped tool.
- What it limits constraint Patent families show direction but not timing, and the most recent filings may not yet be public, so the record cannot date when competition would reach Besi's customers.
- Who has to decide decision Holders of either stock have to decide how much of ASML's packaging growth case, which one analyst ties to its valuation, belongs in Besi's price before ASML confirms anything.
Working back from Besi's 158.50 euros at midday, down a rounded 3% [6], gives a prior close near 163.40 and a loss of about 4.90 a share [12]. That is what the market charged for a patent count: 27 patent families filed over the 24 months from December 2022 to November 2024, about 1.1 a month [11]. SemiAnalysis said the number could be higher because of publication delays [2]. (CNA says 27 patent filings and SCMP says 27 patent families, so the two may be counting different units [1][2].) Neither report includes a ship date or a customer for the tool.
The patents are not the only evidence, but ASML has confirmed none of the rest either. A spokesperson declined to comment on the report and pointed to the first advanced packaging tool the company launched last year [7]. At that launch the company said: "We continue to look at which directions the 3D integration industry will evolve ... and where ASML's expertise can be of additional value," [8] In March, Reuters reported that ASML was planning additional packaging tools, citing Chief Technical Officer Marco Pieters [9]. SemiAnalysis adds that ASML had begun developing the architecture for a hybrid bonder with Prodrive Technologies and VDL ETG, but it cites industry media reports for that, so the partner link reaches us second-hand [13].
Nick Rossolillo, co-founder of Chip Stock Investor, said: "We see the new batch of packaging tools, beyond an EUV pipeline, as critical to pulling off the growth needed to justify (ASML's) elevated valuation." [10] SCMP describes the filings as a sign that ASML is moving beyond lithography, a market it dominates, into back-end processes [14]. Besi is a fraction of ASML's size but a leader in hybrid bonding [4].
We think a 3% fall is a fair price for what is known: a larger entrant with a motive and a paper trail, and no announced product. Three outcomes would change that view. ASML may ship a tool and take share in a market Besi leads, ship something narrower that leaves Besi's position intact, or never ship, in which case the 27 families are all there is. Adoption is also spreading, since SCMP reports that major Chinese companies are adopting the technique [14], and a widening market could leave room for a second supplier.
We would drop the thesis if ASML denies the project, or if its next packaging tool turns out to be something other than a hybrid bonder.
What to watch
- Any ASML statement or product launch that confirms or denies a hybrid bonder.
- Later publication of ASML filings made after November 2024, which could lift the count above 27.
- Besi's next public comment on competition in hybrid bonding, after it did not respond to requests for comment.
Information, not investment advice. This story is general information about companies and markets, drawn from cited reporting. It is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security; check the cited sources before acting.
Clarity's read
What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.
Reality
- Evidence35
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+20
- Incentives
- Not scored
- Confidence60
Claim ledger
Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.
- [1]
The SemiAnalysis report analysed 27 patent filings by ASML, which it said indicated ASML was developing a hybrid bonding product.
- [2]
ASML submitted 27 patent families related to hybrid bonding tools between December 2022 and November 2024, according to a SemiAnalysis report published on Thursday; the number could be higher because of publication delays affecting recent filings.
- [3]
Besi shares fell 3% on Friday after SemiAnalysis reported that one of the company's main growth products will face competition from bigger rival ASML.
- [4]
Besi is a fraction of the size of ASML, the biggest maker of equipment used to make semiconductors, but Besi is a leader in hybrid bonding, an advanced packaging technology used to create three-dimensional chips.
- [5]
ASML has not confirmed it is developing such a tool, and Besi did not respond to requests for comment.
- [6]
In midday Amsterdam trading Besi shares were down 3 per cent at 158.50 euros, while ASML was up 1.1 per cent at 1,480 euros.
- [7]
An ASML spokesperson declined to comment on the SemiAnalysis report but pointed to the company's launch of its first advanced packaging tool last year.
- [8]
"We continue to look at which directions the 3D integration industry will evolve ... and where ASML's expertise can be of additional value," the company said in a statement at the time of the first packaging tool launch.
- [9]
In March, Reuters reported that ASML was planning additional packaging tools, citing Chief Technical Officer Marco Pieters in an interview.
- [10]
"We see the new batch of packaging tools, beyond an EUV pipeline, as critical to pulling off the growth needed to justify (ASML's) elevated valuation," said Nick Rossolillo, co-founder of Chip Stock Investor.
- [11]
27 patent families over the 24 months from December 2022 to November 2024 is about 1.1 families a month.
- [12]
A 3% fall to 158.50 euros implies a prior close near 163.40 euros and a loss of about 4.90 euros a share, on a rounded 3% figure.
- [13]
ASML had also begun developing the architecture for a hybrid bonder with Dutch technology firms Prodrive Technologies and VDL ETG, according to SemiAnalysis, citing industry media reports.
- [14]
The filings suggest ASML is moving beyond lithography, a market it dominates, into back-end processes, and major Chinese companies are also adopting hybrid bonding to improve chip performance.
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Sources
2 independent publishers whose own reporting we read for this story.
- channelnewsasia.comBesi shares fall on report ASML is working on rival hybrid bonding product
1 article · October 16, 2026
- mezha.netАкції Besi впали після повідомлення про можливу розробку ASML конкуруючого інструмента для гібридного з’єднання
1 article · October 16, 2026
- scmp.comASML eyes hybrid bonding, report finds, as Chinese firms adopt chip packaging technique
1 article · October 16, 2026
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