Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Stock Falls 3.2% – What’s Next?

Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX)’s share price traded down 3.2% during trading on Tuesday. The stock traded as low as $260.29 and last traded at $263.45. Approximately 7,681,523 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 28% from the average daily volume of 10,652,305 shares. The stock had previously closed at $272.20.

More Lam Research News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Lam Research reported fiscal Q1 revenue of $8.22 billion, up 54.4% year over year, and adjusted earnings of $2.20 per share. Both figures narrowly exceeded Wall Street expectations of $8.14 billion and $2.18 per share. Lam Research financial results
• Positive Sentiment: Management guided for approximately $8.6 billion in next-quarter revenue, broadly in line with analyst forecasts, while continuing to see strong demand from AI infrastructure and memory-chip customers. Lam Research results and guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Longer-term growth opportunities include expected cumulative Aether dry-resist revenue of $2.5 billion and more than 30% annual growth in the Customer Support Business Group. Lam Research long-term investor takeaways
• Neutral Sentiment: The earnings beat was relatively small, and the next-quarter outlook largely matched expectations rather than raising forecasts. That limited the potential for a positive surprise after the stock’s substantial prior rally. Lam Research outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Supply constraints are preventing Lam from fully converting demand into sales, while management expects China’s revenue contribution to fall substantially from 35% in September. These issues raise concerns about near-term growth and regional exposure. Lam Research supply and China update
• Negative Sentiment: The results reignited fears that AI infrastructure spending and semiconductor capital expenditures may not justify elevated expectations. The weakness has spread across chip stocks, making LRCX’s decline partly sector-driven. Chip stock rebound and AI spending fears

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on LRCX shares. Berenberg Bank set a $420.00 target price on Lam Research in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Lam Research from $325.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $385.00 price target (up from $367.00) on shares of Lam Research in a report on Monday, October 5th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Lam Research from $365.00 to $360.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Lam Research from $435.00 to $425.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $361.68.

Lam Research Trading Down 1.0%

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $306.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $309.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $326.38 billion, a PE ratio of 45.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.85.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The semiconductor company reported $2.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.02. Lam Research had a return on equity of 67.60% and a net margin of 31.27%. The firm had revenue of $8.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 54.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Lam Research Corporation will post 9.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Lam Research Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 23rd were given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 23rd. This is a positive change from Lam Research’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio is 22.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Bethany Mayer sold 9,557 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.74, for a total transaction of $3,007,970.18. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 20,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,607,966.30. This represents a 31.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ava Harter sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.46, for a total transaction of $1,512,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 42,462 shares in the company, valued at $12,843,056.52. This represents a 10.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LRCX. Polaris Financial Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Lam Research during the 3rd quarter worth $4,814,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in Lam Research by 5.5% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 11,244,147 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,872,426,000 after purchasing an additional 584,489 shares in the last quarter. Rokos Capital Management LLP grew its stake in Lam Research by 42.0% in the first quarter. Rokos Capital Management LLP now owns 259,921 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $55,532,000 after purchasing an additional 76,840 shares during the last quarter. Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super purchased a new position in Lam Research in the first quarter valued at about $59,973,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Lam Research in the first quarter valued at about $26,489,000. 84.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lam Research Company Profile

Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) is a semiconductor equipment company that develops and manufactures systems used to fabricate integrated circuits. Its technologies support key stages of wafer processing, helping semiconductor manufacturers create the increasingly complex structures found in memory, logic and other types of chips.

The company’s product portfolio includes etch systems, which selectively remove materials from wafers; deposition systems, which apply thin films; and cleaning solutions used to remove contaminants and residue during manufacturing.