Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Shares Up 7.2% – Should You Buy?

Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX)’s stock price was up 7.2% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $407.99 and last traded at $401.82. 16,727,917 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 50% from the average session volume of 11,130,094 shares. The stock had previously closed at $374.80.

Trending Headlines about Lam Research

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

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo raised its price target on Lam Research to $450 from $365 and kept an Overweight rating, signaling continued confidence in the company’s growth outlook and semiconductor capital equipment demand. Wells Fargo Raises its Price Target on Lam Research (LRCX)
• Positive Sentiment: Lam Research was highlighted by Zacks as a stock to watch, citing earnings growth and price strength, which may reinforce investor optimism around the stock’s momentum. Earnings Growth & Price Strength Make Lam Research (LRCX) a Stock to Watch
• Positive Sentiment: Micron’s strong earnings and upbeat memory-chip outlook lifted chip stocks broadly, while Lam Research gained attention for opening a Boise office to get closer to Micron’s memory expansion plans, underscoring its exposure to a key growth customer. Lam Research (LRCX) Opens Boise Office To Get Closer To Micron’s Memory Expansion
• Positive Sentiment: Lam Research was among the after-hours gainers alongside other semiconductor names, reflecting broader enthusiasm for AI chip stocks and improving sentiment across the sector. Top After-Hours Gainers Today Beyond Micron: QCOM, AMAT, LRCX Surge
• Neutral Sentiment: Brokerage data showed Lam Research with an average “Moderate Buy” recommendation, which supports a constructive but not especially new fundamental outlook. Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages
• Neutral Sentiment: A report on short interest noted no meaningful short-interest build, so it does not appear to be a major driver for the stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on LRCX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 target price on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $425.00 price target on Lam Research and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Weiss Ratings lowered Lam Research from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Zacks Research cut Lam Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Twenty-eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lam Research presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $334.43.

Lam Research Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $474.08 billion, a PE ratio of 71.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.85. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $313.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $249.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 2.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The semiconductor company reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $5.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.70 billion. Lam Research had a net margin of 30.94% and a return on equity of 66.21%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.04 EPS. Lam Research has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 1.500-1.800 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Lam Research Corporation will post 5.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Lam Research Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 17th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 17th. Lam Research’s payout ratio is 19.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Neil J. Fernandes sold 7,659 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.60, for a total value of $2,371,226.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 58,470 shares in the company, valued at $18,102,312. This trade represents a 11.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Ava Harter sold 6,010 shares of Lam Research stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.66, for a total value of $1,554,546.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 53,205 shares in the company, valued at $13,762,005.30. This represents a 10.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 86,339 shares of company stock worth $27,680,267 over the last three months. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lam Research

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LRCX. State Street Corp boosted its position in Lam Research by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 59,817,352 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $8,024,684,000 after purchasing an additional 265,805 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Lam Research by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 33,747,368 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,764,117,000 after purchasing an additional 126,613 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Lam Research by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 22,821,354 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,906,559,000 after purchasing an additional 1,638,406 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Lam Research during the fourth quarter worth about $3,645,427,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Lam Research by 352.2% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,695,210 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,344,347,000 after purchasing an additional 10,666,540 shares in the last quarter. 84.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.