Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Stock Price Down 8.8% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) fell 8.8% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $205.11 and last traded at $209.78. 19,528,766 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 36% from the average session volume of 14,349,592 shares. The stock had previously closed at $230.10.

Key Stories Impacting Lam Research

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

• Positive Sentiment: Argus raised its price target on LRCX to $280 (from $175), implying sizable upside and signaling renewed analyst conviction in Lam’s growth trajectory. Argus price target raise
• Positive Sentiment: B. Riley boosted its price target to $310 and reiterated a Buy rating, adding institutional support for upside expectations. B. Riley price target lift
• Positive Sentiment: Market coverage noted LRCX trading up and hitting a new 52‑week high following analyst upgrades, reflecting strong near-term sentiment even as volatility appears. Trading up after analyst upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Management changes and a new board addition (Cadence CEO Dr. Anirudh Devgan) are intended to increase execution velocity for the AI era — positive for strategic oversight and AI-related demand positioning. Leadership transitions Board appointment
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst-oriented coverage (Zacks) highlights Lam’s earnings momentum and growth attributes, reinforcing buy-side narratives around accelerating revenue and AI-driven wafer fab equipment demand. Zacks growth thesis Zacks earnings momentum
• Neutral Sentiment: Lam expanded R&D collaboration with CEA‑Leti — a constructive long-term technical partnership but with limited immediate market impact. CEA-Leti collaboration
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry context: a MarketBeat piece on KLA highlights differing WFE growth messaging across peers — useful context for interpreting Lam’s guidance but not a direct negative to Lam. KLA industry context
• Negative Sentiment: MarketWatch flagged short-term underperformance versus some competitors despite daily gains, suggesting rotation/profit-taking that likely contributed to today’s pullback. MarketWatch underperformance

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on LRCX shares. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Lam Research in a report on Thursday, January 29th. UBS Group set a $300.00 price objective on Lam Research in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Lam Research from $211.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Evercore ISI set a $275.00 price target on Lam Research in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Lam Research has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.32.

Lam Research Stock Down 8.8%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.26 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $261.97 billion, a PE ratio of 42.99, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.78. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $190.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $148.53.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last released its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.23 billion. Lam Research had a net margin of 30.22% and a return on equity of 62.81%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $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 fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Lam Research

In related news, CFO Douglas R. Bettinger sold 40,080 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.60, for a total value of $6,036,048.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 987,237 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $148,677,892.20. This represents a 3.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. PMV Capital Advisers LLC bought a new position in Lam Research in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lam Research in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Stance Capital LLC purchased a new position in Lam Research during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new position in Lam Research during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in Lam Research during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Institutional investors own 84.61% of the company’s stock.

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.