Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Trading 3.3% Higher – Still a Buy?

Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) shares traded up 3.3% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $345.12 and last traded at $337.01. Approximately 8,866,756 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 22% from the average session volume of 11,301,427 shares. The stock had previously closed at $326.11.

Key Stories Impacting Lam Research

Here are the key news stories impacting Lam Research this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Lam Research plans to increase R&D experiment capacity by more than 50% across facilities in the United States, Asia and Europe. Management says the investment should accelerate product development and help customers address increasingly complex AI-chip architectures, materials and nanoscale manufacturing requirements. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are viewing Lam’s expertise in etching, including next-generation atomic-layer etching, as a potentially valuable competitive advantage as AI-driven semiconductor production requires greater manufacturing precision. The company’s recent rebound has renewed optimism that its technology could benefit from a longer-term equipment upcycle. 247WallSt article
• Positive Sentiment: SanDisk’s bullish multiyear financial targets have strengthened expectations for memory-industry capital spending through 2030, supporting demand prospects for semiconductor equipment suppliers such as Lam Research. SanDisk financial targets article
• Neutral Sentiment: Polen Capital identified LRCX as a top performer in its Focus Growth portfolio, while Zacks continues to highlight the stock’s long-term earnings outlook. These endorsements may support sentiment but do not represent new company guidance or guaranteed returns. Polen Capital article
• Negative Sentiment: The R&D expansion requires substantial spending over several years, creating execution and return-on-investment risks. Lam also trades at a relatively elevated valuation after a sharp recovery, leaving the stock vulnerable to profit-taking and concerns that the semiconductor cycle may be approaching a peak.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LRCX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 price objective on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $335.00 target price on Lam Research and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Seaport Research Partners began coverage on Lam Research in a research report on Monday, May 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $300.00 target price on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded Lam Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Lam Research from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $358.47.

Lam Research Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.63, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a market capitalization of $415.89 billion, a PE ratio of 57.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.84. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $339.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $283.14.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The semiconductor company reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $6.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.66 billion. Lam Research had a return on equity of 67.60% and a net margin of 31.27%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.33 earnings per share. Lam Research has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 2.000-2.300 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Lam Research Corporation will post 9.32 EPS for the current year.

Lam Research Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 17th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 17th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Lam Research’s payout ratio is presently 18.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lam Research

In other news, Director Abhijit Y. Talwalkar sold 18,282 shares of Lam Research stock in a transaction on Monday, July 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.00, for a total transaction of $6,124,470.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 87,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,192,570. This trade represents a 17.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Neil J. Fernandes sold 7,659 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.60, for a total transaction of $2,371,226.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 58,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,102,312. This represents a 11.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 80,441 shares of company stock valued at $27,614,296 in the last quarter. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lam Research

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sonoma Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Lam Research in the 2nd quarter worth about $214,000. First Bancorp Inc ME bought a new stake in shares of Lam Research during the second quarter valued at approximately $130,000. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lam Research during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,680,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp purchased a new stake in shares of Lam Research in the second quarter valued at approximately $191,000. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lam Research in the second quarter valued at approximately $157,002,000. Institutional investors own 84.61% of the company’s stock.

Lam Research Company Profile

Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ: LRCX) is a global supplier of wafer fabrication equipment and services to the semiconductor industry. Founded in 1980 by David K. Lam and headquartered in Fremont, California, the company develops and manufactures systems used in multiple stages of semiconductor device production, including thin film deposition, plasma etch, wafer cleaning and related process modules and automation.

Lam’s product portfolio covers core process technologies employed by logic and memory manufacturers, with equipment designed to support advanced-node patterning, 3D NAND and other emerging device architectures.