ASML Holding NV ASML stock rose 1% in premarket hours on Tuesday after a Dutch court extended the detention of a former Russian employee of the semiconductor equipment maker, suspected of stealing intellectual property and selling it to Russian buyers.
However, technical analysis using simple moving averages suggests that the stock price is neither increasing nor decreasing but oscillating within a defined range.
What Happened: The 43-year-old man named German Aksenov is suspected of stealing proprietary design manuals related to microchips, microchip equipment, and military-grade technology from ASML, Mapper, NXP, and the Delft University of Technology,
Aksenov, arrested on Aug. 28, has denied all charges and remains in custody. Prosecutors requested an extension of his detention until February, citing the risk of flight and potential further leaks, according to Reuters.
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Why It Matters: Shares of ASML Holding have declined by 1.45% on a year-to-date basis and 32.18% in the last six months. This compares to a 29.6% and 12.4% growth in the Nasdaq 100 Index in the same period, respectively.
From a technical perspective, the analysis of daily moving averages indicates a potential period of consolidation.
Shares were trading at $709.56 apiece in premarket, which was above its eight and 20-day simple moving averages, of $709.06 apiece and $686.08 per share, respectively. As per Benzinga Pro data, its current stock price was lower than the 50 and 200-day moving average prices at $719.23 apiece and $880.62 per share, respectively.
This trend indicates that the stock is experiencing near-term upward momentum but it is still broadly below its longer-term price movement, indicating consolidation. On the other hand, the relative strength index of 54.09 suggests the stock was in the neutral region, neither overbought nor oversold.
What Analysts Are Saying: According to Benzinga Pro data, ASML has a consensus price target of $870 per share based on the ratings of 13 analysts. The highest price target out of all the analysts tracked by Benzinga is $1,148 apiece issued by JPMorgan in October.
The average price target of $790.67 apiece between two changes from Bernstein, and Wells Fargo implies an 11.9% upside.
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Photo courtesy: ASML
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