Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Shares Down 1.4% – Here’s What Happened

Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX)’s share price traded down 1.4% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $326.56 and last traded at $332.36. 7,410,567 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 34% from the average session volume of 11,265,345 shares. The stock had previously closed at $337.01.

Lam Research News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Lam Research plans to invest more than $3 billion over five years to expand its global R&D lab network. The company expects the multi-site expansion to increase experiment capacity by more than 50% and accelerate development of equipment for AI-era chips, advanced materials and increasingly complex architectures. Chip equipment maker Lam Research to invest more than $3 billion to expand R&D labs
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are viewing Lam’s leadership in etch equipment and atomic-layer etching as a potential competitive advantage as chipmakers pursue smaller geometries and advanced memory. The company’s R&D push could strengthen its position ahead of a possible semiconductor capital-spending upcycle. Lam Research’s Etch Moat Could Become the Most Profitable Lever in Next-Gen Semiconductor Manufacturing
• Positive Sentiment: SanDisk’s bullish multiyear financial targets have supported optimism about memory-industry capital spending through 2030, potentially benefiting equipment suppliers such as Lam Research. Lam Research, Applied Materials, and Camtek Rise After SanDisk Issues Bullish Financial Targets
• Neutral Sentiment: The R&D announcement helped LRCX recover substantially from a prior selloff, but the stock has since pulled back from rebound highs. With shares valued at roughly 58 times earnings, investors may be locking in gains while waiting for the spending program to translate into revenue and earnings growth.
• Negative Sentiment: Lam’s larger R&D commitment raises near-term spending and execution risks. In addition, macro strategists have warned that the semiconductor cycle could be approaching a peak, which could limit upside for highly valued chip-equipment stocks even as long-term AI demand remains strong. Semiconductor Flows Stay Sticky in Leveraged Chip ETFs

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 target price (up from $315.00) on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Lam Research from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $320.00 price target on shares of Lam Research in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Lam Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. One 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $358.47.

Lam Research Stock Down 1.4%

The firm has a market cap of $415.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.84. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $338.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $282.80.

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

Lam Research Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Lam Research

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bayban purchased a new stake in shares of Lam Research during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Lam Research in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC grew its stake in Lam Research by 242.9% in the first quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 120 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Paladin Partners LLC purchased a new position in Lam Research in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Lam Research in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. 84.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.