Lam Research Sees Strong 2027 Growth as Shareholders Back Board, Pay Plan

Key Points

• Shareholders approved all four key voting outcomes: They elected Lam Research’s 10 director nominees, approved executive compensation, ratified KPMG as fiscal 2027 auditor, and rejected a proposal to lower the ownership threshold for calling special meetings.
• Lam expects strong 2027 semiconductor-equipment demand. The company projects wafer fabrication equipment spending will exceed $200 billion, up about 30%, as 10 major fabs become available to receive equipment and clean-room constraints ease.
• CEO Tim Archer cited gate-all-around transistors, EUV and high-NA EUV lithography, backside power delivery, and advanced packaging as long-term growth drivers because these technologies require intensive etch and deposition processes.

Lam Research NASDAQ: LRCX stockholders elected all 10 director nominees, approved the company’s executive compensation plan on an advisory basis and ratified KPMG LLP as its independent auditor for fiscal 2027 at the company’s 2026 annual meeting.

The virtual meeting, chaired by Board Chair Abhi Talwalkar, did not include a formal business update because Lam had provided its most recent update during its Oct. 21 earnings release call. Talwalkar said the meeting’s purpose was to vote on four proposals outlined in the company’s proxy materials.

Corporate Secretary Ava Harter reported that a quorum was present. Following the vote, Harter said preliminary results showed that stockholders had:

• Elected all 10 board nominees.
• Approved the advisory “say-on-pay” vote covering named executive officer compensation.
• Ratified KPMG LLP as Lam’s independent registered public accounting firm for fiscal 2027.
• Rejected a stockholder proposal concerning the right to call special stockholder meetings.

Lam said it expects to report final voting results in a Form 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission within four business days.

Special Meeting Proposal Rejected

The shareholder proposal, presented by stockholder John Chevedden, called on Lam’s board to amend the company’s governing documents to allow holders of a combined 10% of outstanding common stock to call a special stockholder meeting.

Chevedden argued that Lam’s current rules create significant barriers by requiring 20% support and excluding a substantial block of shares from being included in the qualifying group. He said the requested change would create an “attainable shareholder right” to call a special meeting.

Harter said the board recommended that stockholders vote against the proposal for the reasons included in the company’s proxy statement. The proposal was not approved.

CEO Cites Demand From Technology Transitions

During a post-meeting question-and-answer session, President and Chief Executive Officer Tim Archer discussed semiconductor technology transitions, including gate-all-around transistor architectures and the implementation of extreme ultraviolet, or EUV, and high-numerical-aperture EUV lithography.

Archer said these transitions are “extremely etch and deposition intensive,” making them well suited to Lam’s product portfolio and driving significant demand for its equipment.

He also identified backside power delivery and advanced packaging as potential long-term growth drivers. Archer acknowledged that supply-chain issues have constrained the pace of industry growth, but said Lam is working around those challenges.

Fiscal 2027 Industry Outlook

Archer said customer fabrication-plant utilization rates remain very high. He noted that limited clean-room space was one of the constraints on industry growth during the current year because chipmakers needed more space to install equipment and expand production.

That constraint is expected to ease somewhat in 2027, according to Archer, who said Lam expects 10 tier-one fabs to open and become available to receive equipment during the year.

Lam’s outlook, as previously discussed on its latest earnings call, calls for wafer fabrication equipment spending to exceed $200 billion in 2027, representing approximately 30% growth from the current year. Archer added that Lam believes its addressable markets are growing faster than the broader semiconductor equipment industry and said 2027 appears positioned to be another strong growth year for the company.

About Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX)

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.

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