Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Shares Up 3.9% on Analyst Upgrade

Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) shares traded up 3.9% during trading on Wednesday after New Street Research raised their price target on the stock from $140.00 to $235.00. New Street Research currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Lam Research traded as high as $225.50 and last traded at $222.01. 10,668,970 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 11% from the average session volume of 11,977,512 shares. The stock had previously closed at $213.66.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on LRCX. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 target price (up from $175.00) on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Lam Research from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Lam Research from $165.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Citic Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $165.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $290.00 price objective (up from $260.00) on shares of Lam Research in a report on Thursday, January 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $245.35.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lam Research

In other Lam Research news, Director Eric Brandt sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.60, for a total transaction of $7,896,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 253,705 shares in the company, valued at $57,235,848. The trade was a 12.12% 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, CFO Douglas R. Bettinger sold 50,057 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.03, for a total transaction of $11,214,269.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,081,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $242,334,371.15. The trade was a 4.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 130,886 shares of company stock valued at $29,658,802 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Lam Research

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 / recent results and demand signal continued strength — coverage notes that Lam’s Q4 showed robust revenue growth and margin expansion, supporting the view that AI-driven capex is lifting order activity. Strong Demand Lifted Lam Research Corporation (LRCX) in Q4
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst price-target bump — New Street raised its price target from $140 to $235 (while keeping a neutral rating), signaling more upside to consensus valuation assumptions and helping sentiment around the stock. New Street Adjusts Price Target on Lam Research
• Positive Sentiment: Industry AI tailwinds — sector pieces highlight broad AI-driven demand for memory and wafer fab equipment, which supports long-term secular growth for suppliers like Lam. Investors are treating Lam as a prime beneficiary of increased fab capex. Lam Research Corporation (LRCX): Billionaire Ray Dalio Trims Stake in Chip Stock
• Positive Sentiment: Bullish research/features — multiple pieces (Zacks, Seeking Alpha, MSN) reiterate Lam as a long-term pick given market position, improving operating metrics, and exposure to AI and foundry spending. Why Lam Research (LRCX) is a top stock for the long term
• Neutral Sentiment: Upcoming earnings call — Lam scheduled its March-quarter conference call for April 22; this will be the next formal catalyst where management can update demand visibility and guidance. Lam Research Announces March Quarter Financial Conference Call
• Neutral Sentiment: Company profile / coverage roundup — general profiles and previews are circulating; useful for context but less likely to move the stock absent new data. Lam Research Corporation — CNN Markets
• Negative Sentiment: Institutional trimming — Bridgewater/Ray Dalio’s fund trimmed a previously disclosed position, which can weigh on sentiment when a well-known investor reduces exposure. Lam Research Corporation (LRCX): Billionaire Ray Dalio Trims Stake in Chip Stock
• Negative Sentiment: Supply-chain risk — reporting on a possible Middle East-related helium shortage highlights a non-demand operational risk that could constrain equipment throughput or service for certain tools. Middle East Helium Shock Puts Lam Research Supply Chain In Focus

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lam Research by 0.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 130,974,214 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $17,537,447,000 after buying an additional 364,949 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Lam Research by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 59,817,352 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $8,024,684,000 after acquiring an additional 265,805 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Lam Research by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 33,747,368 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,764,117,000 after acquiring an additional 126,613 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Lam Research by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 22,821,354 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,906,559,000 after acquiring an additional 1,638,406 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Lam Research in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,645,427,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.61% of the company’s stock.

Lam Research Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $277.24 billion, a PE ratio of 45.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.78. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $227.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $183.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $5.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.23 billion. Lam Research had a net margin of 30.22% and a return on equity of 62.81%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. Lam Research has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.250-1.450 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Lam Research Corporation will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Lam Research Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.31%.

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.