Bank of America cuts Besi rating as ASML weighs hybrid bonding

Bank of America cut BE Semiconductor Industries to neutral as uncertainty over ASML’s hybrid bonding plans weighed on the company’s outlook. The bank also nearly halved its price target, saying the market had not accounted for the potential competitive threat. BE Semiconductor Industries said in March it remained committed to independence, while neither it nor ASML immediately responded to comment requests described in the report.

The concern centres on hybrid bonding, a process that joins chip surfaces directly without metal bumps between them. Better heat movement is one stated benefit of the method. BE Semiconductor Industries depends on the market for growth, making a possible new entrant relevant to its investment case. Bank of America analysts said manufacturers struggle to produce working chips consistently at the accuracy needed to stack logic or memory.

The rating change reflects an unresolved entry risk

Bank of America said the perceived risk from ASML was not reflected in BE Semiconductor Industries’ share price and could weigh on it until ASML’s plans became clearer. The report described ASML as publicly examining the same technology. It also said ASML shipped its first advanced packaging product last year. These points indicate activity in adjacent packaging technology, but the source does not say ASML has committed to entering hybrid bonding.

The bank’s analysts were not assuming that ASML would take significant market share. Their concern instead was that the possibility of entry could affect investor expectations while details remained unclear. The source gives no new target amount or the earlier target amount, only that the price target was nearly halved. That leaves the scale of the revision unquantified in the available account.

Ownership and possible approaches add scrutiny

A separate issue is whether BE Semiconductor Industries could become a takeover target. The report says Lam Research and Applied Materials approached the company, and that it hired Morgan Stanley. Talks reportedly began in mid-2025, paused amid tensions between Washington and Brussels, and later resumed. The source does not set out a transaction proposal or confirm that a bid has been made.

Applied Materials has held 9% of BE Semiconductor Industries since April 2025, according to the account. Any bid would require clearance in The Hague under an investment screening law that has covered semiconductors since 2023. Such screening is a government review of certain investments before they can proceed. The report says BE Semiconductor Industries stated in March that it was committed to remaining independent.

The market figures describe exposure, not a forecast

The company told investors in August that it could ship more than 2,000 hybrid bonding tools by 2030 in an optimistic scenario. Its 2025 annual report put cumulative orders above 150. Bernstein expects BE Semiconductor Industries to supply three of every four hybrid bonders shipped in 2028, according to the source. That is an external expectation, while the company’s shipment figure is explicitly an optimistic scenario.

The report says the shares fell as much as 6.4% on Tuesday and were the worst performer in the Stoxx 600 last quarter. It also says they had fallen about 40% from a June peak while remaining up 45% this year. These figures describe different periods and should not be read as a single performance measure. No exact trading date is supplied for Tuesday or the quarter reference.

The open issue is whether ASML will clarify its plans and whether any approach to BE Semiconductor Industries develops into a formal proposal. The source records no response from ASML or BE Semiconductor Industries to immediate comment requests. The company’s stated commitment to independence remains its reported position. Investors and policy watchers will also need to track any required clearance in The Hague if a bid proceeds.