THE HAGUE, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Dutch semiconductor equipment manufacturer ASML saw a steep drop in its stock price for a second consecutive day on Wednesday, following a sharp fall on Tuesday.
The slide came after the company released its third-quarter 2024 financial results a day early, revealing a sharp decrease in orders.
ASML reported that third-quarter orders totaled approximately 2.6 billion euros (about 2.8 billion U.S. dollars), less than half of the 5.6 billion euros from the previous quarter. This disappointing performance triggered a major sell-off on Tuesday, causing ASML's stock to plummet by nearly 124 euros, a 15.6 percent drop by the market's close.
The downward momentum continued into Wednesday, with shares falling an additional 5.1 percent, ending the day at 633.9 euros.
Over the two days, ASML saw more than 60 billion euros in market value erased, leading to the loss of its status as the most valuable tech company in Europe. German software giant SAP SE has now claimed that title, with a market capitalization of approximately 259 billion euros. (1 euro = 1.09 U.S. dollars)
