ASML Holding NV vs Cardinal Health, Inc.: Strategic Comparison

This in-depth comparison examines ASML Holding NV and Cardinal Health, Inc. across revenue, market value, business model, competitive positioning, and long-term growth strategy. Whether you are researching ASML Holding NV on its own, evaluating Cardinal Health, Inc., or weighing the two companies side by side, the breakdown below highlights where each company leads and where the gap between ASML Holding NV and Cardinal Health, Inc. is widest.

On the headline numbers, ASML Holding NV reports annual revenue of ~$36.9B against $254.2B for Cardinal Health, Inc., while their respective market capitalizations stand at $696.4B and $56.0B. ASML Holding NV is headquartered in Netherlands and Cardinal Health, Inc. in United States, and those different home markets shape how each company competes.

ASML Holding NV: ASML is the most consequential technology company most consumers have never heard of. Based in Veldhoven in the Netherlands, it is the only supplier of extreme ultraviolet lithography machines, room-sized systems that use 13.5 nanometer light, plasma generated from molten tin, and mirrors polished to near-atomic smoothness to print circuit patterns onto silicon wafers. Without them, chipmakers such as TSMC, Samsung and Intel cannot manufacture the leading-edge logic and memory used in phones, data centers and AI accelerators. ASML sold 535 systems in 2025 and reported total net sales of ~$37 billion (32.7 billion euros).

Cardinal Health, Inc.: Cardinal Health, based in Ohio, is one of the three large US pharmaceutical distributors, along with McKesson and Cencora. It does not invent drugs or treat patients. It runs the regulated supply chain that moves medicines and medical devices from manufacturers to pharmacies and hospitals, so a prescription collected at a local pharmacy has often passed through its network.

ASML Holding NV and Cardinal Health, Inc. pursue distinct approaches to generating revenue, and understanding how each company operates is the foundation of any fair comparison between ASML Holding NV and Cardinal Health, Inc..

ASML Holding NV business model: 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. Customer concentration is extreme: four customers each accounted for more than 10 percent of 2025 net sales and together for 61.2 percent, while the single largest customer accounted for ~$8.81 billion (7.8 billion euros), or 23.9 percent. ASML works as a systems integrator rather than a vertically integrated manufacturer. It buys all lenses, mirrors, illuminators and collectors exclusively from Carl Zeiss SMT, in which it holds a 24.9 percent stake, and draws on a base of about 5,100 suppliers. Because systems take many months to build, customers pay substantial down payments before delivery.

Cardinal Health, Inc. business model: The business model is large, high-volume logistics divided into two segments: Pharmaceutical and Medical. In the Pharma segment, they buy billions of dollars of drugs from manufacturers (like Pfizer) and distribute them daily to tens of thousands of pharmacies and hospitals, taking a tiny markup. In the Medical segment, they actually manufacture and distribute low-cost, high-volume medical supplies (like surgical gloves, gowns, and syringes), acting as the large central supply closet for the entire American hospital system.

The durability of a company's moat often decides long-term winners. Here is how the competitive advantages of ASML Holding NV stack up against those of Cardinal Health, Inc..

ASML Holding NV 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. Those optics come only from Carl Zeiss SMT, under an exclusive arrangement, and ASML spent roughly two decades between the start of EUV research and the first production shipments in 2017 before the technology worked at commercial throughput. The company spent ~$5.31 billion (4.7 billion euros) on R&D in 2025 alone, 14.4 percent of sales, and coordinates about 5,100 suppliers to build the systems.

Cardinal Health, Inc. competitive advantage: Cardinal Health's advantage is physical scale and regulatory standing. Moving regulated, temperature-sensitive drugs and biologics across the country overnight takes a network of specialized distribution centers and security procedures that cost billions of dollars and take decades to build. The barrier to entry is high, so drug distribution is concentrated among a few large companies.

Future prospects matter as much as current results. The growth strategies below explain how ASML Holding NV and Cardinal Health, Inc. each plan to expand from here.

ASML Holding NV 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. The next step is the High-NA EXE platform, which raises numerical aperture from 0.33 to 0.55 and prints 8 nanometer features in a single exposure. ASML shipped its first full-specification EXE:5200B in April 2025 at 175 wafers per hour, 60 percent more productive than the EXE:5000, recognized four EXE systems for ~$1.36 billion (1.2 billion euros) in 2025, and expects the platform to support high-volume manufacturing from 2027. Beyond lithography, ASML is pushing multibeam e-beam inspection toward high-volume manufacturing, shipped its first advanced packaging system the TWINSCAN XT:260 in 2025 to address 3D integration, and invested ~$1.47 billion (1.3 billion euros) in Mistral AI for about 11 percent on a fully diluted basis to apply AI models across its products and operations. Service and field option sales, which grew 26.2 percent to ~$9.27 billion (8.2 billion euros) in 2025, expand automatically with the installed base.

Cardinal Health, Inc. growth strategy: Cardinal Health's growth plan rests on three levers. First, specialty pharmaceuticals and physician practice platforms: it bought a 71% stake in GI Alliance for about $2.8 billion (announced November 2024) and funded The Specialty Alliance's roughly $1.9 billion acquisition of urology MSO Solaris Health (completed November 2025). Second, the Other segment: Nuclear and Precision Health Solutions (radiopharmaceuticals and theranostics), at-Home Solutions (expanded with ADSG in 2025, Strive Medical, and the announced AdaptHealth diabetes business), and OptiFreight Logistics, which together grew revenue 26% to $6.8 billion in fiscal 2026. Third, improving GMPD profitability through its Cardinal Health brand products and cost actions.

A closer look at the financial trajectory of ASML Holding NV and Cardinal Health, Inc. rounds out the comparison.

ASML Holding NV: 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.

Cardinal Health, Inc.: Cardinal Health combines very large revenue with thin margins. Fiscal 2026 revenue was $254.2 billion, up 14% from $222.6 billion in fiscal 2025, driven by brand and specialty drug volume from existing customers. GAAP operating earnings were $2.6 billion, GAAP diluted EPS was $7.23, and net earnings attributable to Cardinal Health were about $1.7 billion. Non-GAAP diluted EPS rose 37% to $11.26 ($10.95 excluding the IEEPA tariff refund). Operating cash flow was $5.2 billion and adjusted free cash flow was $5.0 billion. The company repurchased $1.4 billion of stock in fiscal 2026 and the board added $5.0 billion to the buyback authorization in August 2026. Fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 revenue was $63.7 billion, up 6%.