American Express vs ASML Holding: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
American Express reported $72.2B of revenue in FY2025 and $10.8B of net income. ASML Holding reported ~$36.9B of revenue in FY2025 and ~$10.9B of net income.
Latest financial snapshot
American Express
- Latest revenue
- $72.2B (FY2025)
- Net income
- $10.8B
- Net margin
- 15.0%
- Revenue growth
- +8.2% a year, FY2016–FY2025
ASML Holding
- Latest revenue
- ~$36.9B (FY2025)
- Net income
- ~$10.9B
- Net margin
- 29.4%
- Revenue growth
- +18.9% a year, FY2016–FY2025
Financial summary
American Express
American Express reported $72.2 billion in total revenues net of interest expense for FY2025, up 10 percent, and $10.8 billion of net income, or $15.38 per diluted share. The mix is less fee-only than its premium image suggests: discount revenue on merchant transactions was $37.4 billion, net interest income on card member loans was $17.4 billion, net card fees were $10.0 billion and service fees and other revenue were $7.5 billion. Growth in 2025 came disproportionately from the two smaller lines, with net card fees up 18 percent and net interest income up 12 percent against 6 percent growth in discount revenue. Return on average equity was 33.9 percent, the net write-off rate on consumer and small business loans and receivables was 2.0 percent, and the company declared $3.28 per share in dividends while average diluted shares fell from 713 million to 696 million.
ASML Holding
ASML's financial profile reflects a sole-source position in a concentrated market. In 2025 total net sales rose 15.6 percent to ~$37 billion (32.7 billion euros), gross profit was ~$19.5 billion (17.3 billion euros) for a gross margin of 52.8 percent, income from operations was ~$12.8 billion (11.3 billion euros), and net income was ~$10.8 billion (9.6 billion euros), a net margin of 29.4 percent, on basic earnings per share of 24.73 euros. R&D spending was ~$5.31 billion (4.7 billion euros), or 14.4 percent of sales, and selling, general and administrative costs were ~$1.47 billion (1.3 billion euros). Operating cash flow was ~$14.4 billion (12.7 billion euros) and free cash flow ~$12.4 billion (11.0 billion euros), helped by customer down payments received before systems are delivered. ASML returned ~$9.61 billion (8.5 billion euros) to shareholders in 2025, including ~$6.67 billion (5.9 billion euros) of share buybacks, and proposed an annualized dividend of 7.50 euros per share against 6.40 euros for 2024. It held ~$15 billion (13.3 billion euros) of cash and short-term investments at year end. The main financial exposures are the concentration of sales in a few customers and the export control regime covering China, which was 29.1 percent of 2025 sales.
Revenue and profit by year
American Express
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $72.2B | $10.8B | 15.0% | +9.5% | Source |
| FY2024 | $65.9B | $10.1B | 15.4% | +9.0% | Source |
| FY2023 | $60.5B | $8.4B | 13.8% | +14.5% | Source |
| FY2022 | $52.9B | $7.5B | 14.2% | +24.7% | Source |
| FY2021 | $42.4B | $8.1B | 19.0% | +17.4% | Source |
| FY2020 | $36.1B | $3.1B | 8.7% | -17.1% | Source |
| FY2019 | $43.6B | $6.8B | 15.5% | +8.0% | Source |
| FY2018 | $40.3B | $6.9B | 17.2% | +9.4% | Source |
| FY2017 | $36.9B | $2.7B | 7.5% | +4.1% | Source |
| FY2016 | $35.4B | $5.4B | 15.2% | — | Source |
ASML Holding
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | ~$36.9B | ~$10.9B | 29.4% | +15.6% | Source |
| FY2024 | ~$31.9B | ~$8.6B | 26.8% | +2.6% | Source |
| FY2023 | ~$31.1B | ~$8.9B | 28.4% | +30.2% | Source |
| FY2022 | ~$23.9B | ~$6.4B | 26.6% | +13.8% | Source |
| FY2021 | ~$21B | ~$6.6B | 31.6% | +33.1% | Source |
| FY2020 | ~$15.8B | ~$4B | 25.4% | +18.3% | Source |
| FY2019 | ~$13.4B | ~$2.9B | 21.9% | +8.0% | Source |
| FY2018 | ~$12.4B | ~$2.9B | 23.7% | +22.1% | Source |
| FY2017 | ~$10.1B | ~$2.3B | 23.1% | +30.4% | Source |
| FY2016 | ~$7.8B | ~$1.8B | 22.7% | — | Source |
Where the revenue comes from
American Express
- Discount Revenue (Merchant Fees)~52%
Discount revenue is the fee American Express charges merchants on card transactions. It was $37,401 million in FY2025, up 6 percent, and equalled 2.24 percent of billed business. It remains the largest revenue line and moves with billed business, merchant mix and geography.
- Net Interest Income~24%
Net interest income is earned on card member loans and receivables after funding costs. It was $17,364 million in FY2025, up 12 percent, on a net interest yield of 8.1 percent, helped by growth in revolving balances and by lending features added to charge card products.
- Net Card Fees~14%
Net card fees are the annual fees on consumer, small business and corporate cards. They reached $9,993 million in FY2025, up 18 percent, at an average of $117 per proprietary card in force, driven by new acquisitions on fee-paying products and by the 2025 Platinum refresh.
- Service Fees and Other Revenue~10%
Service fees and other revenue was $7,471 million in FY2025, up 10 percent. It covers network partnership revenue from cards issued by partner banks, foreign currency fees on cross-currency spending, loyalty coalition and merchant service fees, delinquency fees, travel commissions and income from equity method investments.
ASML Holding
- DUV lithography system sales~37%
Deep ultraviolet system sales were ~$13.6 billion (12,047.0 million euros) in 2025, or 36.9 percent of total net sales. The bulk is ArF immersion on the TWINSCAN NXT platform, 131 units for ~$11.7 billion (10,311.4 million euros), with dry ArF, KrF and i-line systems on the XT platform adding 148 units for ~$1.96 billion (1,735.6 million euros). DUV serves both advanced nodes in combination with multiple patterning and mature-node production for automotive, power and analog chips. China is the largest destination for mainstream DUV, and ASML said its China DUV business in 2025 was stronger than it had expected while mainstream demand elsewhere stayed weak.
- EUV lithography system sales~36%
Extreme ultraviolet system sales were ~$13.1 billion (11,602.7 million euros) in 2025, or 35.5 percent of total net sales, made up of 44 NXE systems for ~$11.8 billion (10,445.8 million euros) and four High-NA EXE systems for ~$1.31 billion (1,156.9 million euros). EUV is the segment where ASML has no competitor. Growth in 2025 came from the higher-productivity NXE:3800E in advanced logic and, increasingly, DRAM, where lower cost per exposure widened adoption. EUV also accounted for ~$28.8 billion (25.5 billion euros) of the ~$43.8 billion (38.8 billion euro) backlog at the end of 2025.
- Service and field option sales~25%
Net service and field option sales were ~$9.26 billion (8,193.0 million euros) in 2025, or 25.1 percent of total net sales, up 26.2 percent on 2024. This is maintenance, spare parts, remote support, refurbishment and performance upgrades sold into the installed base, and ASML reports it as a single category rather than splitting service from field options. Growth came from a larger installed base, higher tool use at some customers and a large volume of NXE:3800E field upgrades, which shifted part of what would have been new system revenue into installed base revenue.
- Metrology and inspection systems~3%
Metrology and inspection systems were ~$932 million (824.6 million euros) in 2025, or 2.5 percent of total net sales, across 208 units, up from 165 units and ~$729 million (645.5 million euros) in 2024. The category covers YieldStar optical metrology and HMI e-beam inspection. It is small in revenue terms but it supplies the measurement data that ASML's computational lithography software uses to tune scanner settings, which is why ASML sells it as part of a holistic lithography package rather than as standalone equipment.
Business model and strategy
American Express
How it makes money
American Express runs a closed-loop payments business: it issues the card, owns the network, underwrites the credit and contracts with the merchant. Visa and Mastercard only move the transaction between an issuing bank and an acquiring bank, so they never see both sides of a purchase.
Growth strategy
Amex's growth strategy is aggressively focused on capturing the next generation of wealthy spenders: Millennials and Gen Z. They have successfully revamped their well-known Platinum and Gold cards with perks tailored specifically for younger demographics (like Uber credits and dining rewards), resulting in rapid growth among younger cohorts.
Competitive advantage
American Express competes on the spending power of its card members rather than on price or ubiquity. Average spending per proprietary basic card member was $25,453 in 2025, which is the argument it makes to merchants who pay a higher discount rate, an average of 2.24 percent of billed business.
ASML Holding
How it makes money
ASML designs and assembles lithography systems, sells them to a small number of chipmakers, and then earns recurring revenue maintaining and upgrading the installed base. In 2025, net system sales were ~$27.7 billion (24.5 billion euros), or 74.9 percent of total net sales, and net service and field option sales were ~$9.27 billion (8.2 billion euros), or 25.1 percent.
Growth strategy
Growth depends on how fast chipmakers add advanced capacity and on how quickly ASML can build systems. In EUV, the workhorse is the TWINSCAN NXE:3800E, whose higher productivity drove 2025 EUV sales and a large volume of field upgrades on installed systems; ASML recognized 44 NXE systems for ~$11.8 billion (10.4 billion euros) in 2025.
Competitive advantage
ASML's competitive advantage is the difficulty of building an EUV machine at all. The system fires a high-power laser at molten tin droplets roughly 50,000 times a second to create a plasma that emits 13.5 nanometer light, which cannot pass through glass or air and so must be steered by mirrors polished to near-atomic smoothness inside a vacuum.
Questions about American Express vs ASML Holding
Which company has higher revenue — American Express Company or ASML Holding NV?
American Express Company reported $72.2B (FY2025), while ASML Holding NV reported ~$36.9B (FY2025). By last reported revenue, American Express Company is the larger business, with ASML Holding NV reporting a smaller revenue base.
What is the market cap of American Express Company vs ASML Holding NV?
American Express Company's market capitalisation stands at $205.8B, while ASML Holding NV's is $696.4B. ASML Holding NV carries the higher market valuation, reflecting investors' expectations of its future earnings power relative to American Express Company.
Which is more financially efficient — American Express Company or ASML Holding NV?
American Express Company generates $940k / employee in revenue per employee, while ASML Holding NV generates $835k / employee. American Express Company shows higher revenue efficiency per headcount, though this reflects business model differences — capital-light software companies routinely outperform labour-intensive manufacturers on this metric.
How do American Express Company and ASML Holding NV make money?
American Express Company and ASML Holding NV generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. American Express Company: American Express runs a closed-loop payments business: it issues the card, owns the network, underwrites the credit and contracts with the merchant. ASML Holding NV: ASML designs and assembles lithography systems, sells them to a small number of chipmakers, and then earns recurring revenue maintaining and upgrading the installed base.
Which company is valued higher relative to revenue — American Express Company or ASML Holding NV?
On a price-to-sales (P/S) basis, American Express Company trades at 2.8x P/S and ASML Holding NV at 18.9x P/S. ASML Holding NV commands a higher revenue multiple, typically indicating that investors expect faster growth or higher future margins compared to American Express Company. A higher multiple is not inherently better — it may also signal that the stock is priced for perfection.
Is American Express Company bigger than ASML Holding NV?
By last reported revenue, American Express Company ($72.2B (FY2025)) is the larger company compared to ASML Holding NV (~$36.9B (FY2025)). Revenue scale is one dimension of size — market capitalisation, employee count, and geographic reach are also relevant depending on the context.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the American Express vs ASML Holding overview