Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Shares Down 2.3% – Should You Sell?

Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX)’s share price fell 2.3% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $277.77 and last traded at $289.24. 8,511,028 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 23% from the average session volume of 11,116,329 shares. The stock had previously closed at $296.05.

Key Stories Impacting Lam Research

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

• Positive Sentiment: Several recent articles say Lam Research is an “incredible growth stock,” pointing to solid operating momentum and the potential for strong long-term returns.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary remain bullish, with coverage noting that Wall Street’s average recommendation is effectively a Buy and that price targets have been raised as the stock pushed above the $300 level.
• Positive Sentiment: Investor interest is also being supported by Lam’s recent earnings beat, with revenue of $5.84 billion and non-GAAP EPS of $1.47, both topping expectations and reinforcing confidence in demand trends tied to AI infrastructure.
• Neutral Sentiment: The company also announced upcoming participation in investor conferences, which does not change fundamentals but may keep the stock in focus for traders and institutions.
• Neutral Sentiment: Additional articles discussed Lam Research’s long-term stock performance and valuation, which may support sentiment but are not new catalysts by themselves.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on LRCX. Mizuho increased their price objective on Lam Research from $295.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Lam Research from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Lam Research from $290.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $315.00 target price (up from $300.00) on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Argus raised their target price on Lam Research from $175.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Twenty-six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $291.75.

Lam Research Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $374.11 billion, a PE ratio of 56.44, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 2.54 and a quick ratio of 1.77. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $245.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $210.21.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The semiconductor company reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.11. Lam Research had a return on equity of 66.21% and a net margin of 30.94%.The business had revenue of $5.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.70 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.04 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. Lam Research has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 1.500-1.800 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Lam Research Corporation will post 5.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Lam Research

In other news, insider Ava Harter sold 6,010 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.66, for a total value of $1,554,546.60. Following the transaction, the insider owned 53,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,762,005.30. This trade represents a 10.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Neil J. Fernandes sold 18,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.14, for a total value of $4,635,893.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 66,129 shares in the company, valued at $16,872,153.06. This trade represents a 21.55% decrease in their position. 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 120,066 shares of company stock valued at $27,953,242 over the last quarter. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LRCX. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Lam Research in the fourth quarter worth about $3,645,427,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Lam Research by 352.2% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,695,210 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,344,347,000 after purchasing an additional 10,666,540 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Lam Research by 781.3% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 11,340,865 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,518,542,000 after purchasing an additional 10,053,978 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Lam Research by 57.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,110,560 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,730,724,000 after purchasing an additional 3,671,073 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Lam Research by 235.5% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,199,441 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $890,040,000 after purchasing an additional 3,649,553 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.61% of the company’s stock.

About Lam Research

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.