Wall Street Bulls Look Optimistic About ASML (ASML): Should You Buy?
Zacks Equity Research
Thu, July 23, 2026 at 7:00 PM GMT+5:30
4 min read
- ASML
-2.49%
When deciding whether to buy, sell, or hold a stock, investors often rely on analyst recommendations. Media reports about rating changes by these brokerage-firm-employed (or sell-side) analysts often influence a stock’s price, but are they really important?
Let’s take a look at what these Wall Street heavyweights have to say about ASML (ASML) before we discuss the reliability of brokerage recommendations and how to use them to your advantage
ASML currently has an average brokerage recommendation (ABR) of 1.28, on a scale of 1 to 5 (Strong Buy to Strong Sell), calculated based on the actual recommendations (Buy, Hold, Sell, etc.) made by 29 brokerage firms. An ABR of 1.28 approximates between Strong Buy and Buy
Of the 29 recommendations that derive the current ABR, 24 are Strong Buy and two are Buy. Strong Buy and Buy respectively account for 82.8% and 6.9% of all recommendations
Brokerage Recommendation Trends for ASML
Check price target & stock forecast for ASML here>>>
The ABR suggests buying ASML, but making an investment decision solely on the basis of this information might not be a good idea. According to several studies, brokerage recommendations have little to no success guiding investors to choose stocks with the most potential for price appreciation
Are you wondering why? The vested interest of brokerage firms in a stock they cover often results in a strong positive bias of their analysts in rating it. Our research shows that for every “Strong Sell” recommendation, brokerage firms assign five “Strong Buy” recommendations
This means that the interests of these institutions are not always aligned with those of retail investors, giving little insight into the direction of a stock’s future price movement. It would therefore be best to use this information to validate your own analysis or a tool that has proven to be highly effective at predicting stock price movements
With an impressive externally audited track record, our proprietary stock rating tool, the Zacks Rank, which classifies stocks into five groups, ranging from Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) to Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell), is a reliable indicator of a stock’s near-term price performance. So, validating the Zacks Rank with ABR could go a long way in making a profitable investment decision
Zacks Rank Should Not Be Confused With ABR
In spite of the fact that Zacks Rank and ABR both appear on a scale from 1 to 5, they are two completely different measures
Broker recommendations are the sole basis for calculating the ABR, which is typically displayed in decimals (such as 1.28). The Zacks Rank, on the other hand, is a quantitative model designed to harness the power of earnings estimate revisions. It is displayed in whole numbers — 1 to 5
