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Investing.com -- Jefferies on Thursday raised its price target on ASML Holding to €1,560 from €1,260 and on STMicroelectronics to €82 from €74, citing upgrades to estimates and re-rating across the European semiconductor peer group.
European semiconductor stocks rose 69% in the second quarter of 2026, with the SOX index up 88% through the period.
Analog stocks outperformed semiconductor-capital-equipment names, led by Soitec, up 120%, STMicroelectronics, up 115%, and Infineon Technologies, up 102%.
Jefferies said STMicroelectronics’ price-to-earnings multiple re-rated 44% during the quarter, while Infineon’s re-rated 65% and ASML’s 31%.
ASML, ASM International and VAT are currently trading at their peak multiples, the note said, while STMicroelectronics and Infineon are trading well above their previous peaks.
For ASML, Jefferies forecast second-quarter revenue of €8.79 billion and a gross margin of 52%, in line with consensus and company guidance.
The brokerage said it expects ASML’s full-year revenue guidance range to be raised from €36 billion-€40 billion to €38 billion-€42 billion.
Investor focus will center on management commentary on low-NA EUV system shipments for 2027, where Jefferies believes ASML is preparing for shipments of around 90 systems. The new ASML target is based on an FY27 price-to-earnings ratio of 36 times and enterprise-value-to-EBITDA of 28 times, the note said.
For STMicroelectronics, Jefferies forecast second-quarter revenue of $3.47 billion, in line with consensus, with an adjusted gross margin of 35.3%.
The brokerage said it expects the company to guide first-half growth in the second half of the year at around 20% half-on-half, versus prior guidance of about 15%, "mainly due to better than expected data centre revenues."
Jefferies forecast full-year 2026 revenue of $14.47 billion, up 23%, with a 36.1% gross margin. The new STMicroelectronics target is based on 31 times its 2027 earnings-per-share forecast and 4.8 times enterprise-value-to-sales.
Jefferies maintained a “buy” rating on both stocks and said it expects further earnings upgrades over the next six to seven quarters as the analog upcycle gains momentum, while cautioning that "further re-rating may be limited in H2-26" given elevated valuation multiples across the sector.
The brokerage also raised its price target on ASM International to €780 from €670 and on VAT to 560 Swiss francs from 465 Swiss francs, and raised Melexis to €94 from €82.
