Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Shares Down 2.7% – Here’s Why

Shares of Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) dropped 2.7% on Thursday. The stock traded as low as $316.66 and last traded at $320.59. Approximately 8,957,749 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 16% from the average daily volume of 10,726,895 shares. The stock had previously closed at $329.51.

Key Stories Impacting Lam Research

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

• Positive Sentiment: Lam Research secured new etch-tool business with a major DRAM producer, which selected the company’s Akara system and Aether dry-resist technology for advanced memory production lines. The wins strengthen Lam’s position in DDR5, LPDDR5 and high-bandwidth memory manufacturing and could support future equipment spending as next-generation memory capacity expands. Lam Research DRAM Wins Put Its Fair Value Narrative Back In Focus
• Positive Sentiment: Long-term investment coverage remains favorable, pointing to Lam Research’s strong historical returns, high return on equity and exposure to artificial-intelligence-related semiconductor demand. The company’s equipment is essential to chip production, providing a structural growth opportunity if leading-edge and memory investment continues. Lam Research Historical Returns
• Neutral Sentiment: Lam Research remains a heavily watched stock, and Zacks coverage continues to present it as a potential long-term holding. However, these articles offer limited new company-specific information or near-term earnings changes. Why Lam Research Is a Top Stock for the Long-Term
• Negative Sentiment: The stock recently fell more sharply than the broader market, suggesting profit-taking or weakness across semiconductor shares. Lam’s elevated valuation—about 55 times earnings based on the supplied market data—also leaves the stock vulnerable to multiple compression when sentiment cools. Lam Research Suffers a Larger Drop Than the General Market

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on LRCX. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $355.00 target price on shares of Lam Research in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective (up from $330.00) on shares of Lam Research in a report on Monday, June 15th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $305.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. HSBC restated a “hold” rating and issued a $333.00 target price on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Berenberg Bank set a $420.00 price objective on Lam Research in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $364.59.

Lam Research Stock Down 0.5%

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 firm has a market capitalization of $399.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.35, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.85. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $310.98 and a 200-day moving average of $305.87.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.13. Lam Research had a return on equity of 67.60% and a net margin of 31.27%. The company had revenue of $6.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.66 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.33 earnings per share. Lam Research’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Lam Research has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 2.000-2.300 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Lam Research Corporation will post 9.34 EPS for the current year.

Lam Research Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 23rd will be given a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. This is an increase from Lam Research’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 23rd. Lam Research’s payout ratio is 22.92%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Abhijit Y. Talwalkar sold 18,282 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.00, for a total value of $6,124,470.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 87,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,192,570. This trade represents a 17.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Bethany Mayer sold 9,557 shares of Lam Research 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 transaction, the director owned 20,995 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,607,966.30. The trade was a 31.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 32,839 shares of company stock worth $10,644,740 over the last 90 days. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lam Research

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp boosted its position in Lam Research by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,704,130 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $26,320,468,000 after acquiring an additional 1,545,830 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Lam Research by 5.5% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 11,244,147 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,872,426,000 after purchasing an additional 584,489 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 411.8% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 11,089,395 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,805,368,000 after purchasing an additional 8,922,854 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Lam Research by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 22,821,354 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,906,559,000 after purchasing an additional 1,638,406 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Lam Research in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,777,585,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.61% of the company’s stock.

Lam Research Company Profile

Lam Research Corporation is a semiconductor equipment company that designs, manufactures, and services systems used in the fabrication of integrated circuits and other electronic devices. Its equipment supports key steps in the wafer manufacturing process, helping semiconductor producers create increasingly small and complex features on silicon wafers.

The company’s portfolio includes systems for etch, deposition, wafer cleaning, surface preparation, and related manufacturing processes.