Jefferies Financial Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Stock

Key Points

• Jefferies raised its price target on Lam Research to $315 from $285 and kept a "buy" rating, implying about an 18.96% upside, while multiple other firms also boosted targets, leaving a consensus "Moderate Buy" with a $272.73 average price target.
• Quarterly beat and stronger guidance: Lam reported Q3 EPS of $1.47 vs. $1.36 expected and revenue of $5.84B (up 23.8% YoY), and set Q4 FY26 guidance of $1.50–$1.80, with analysts citing AI-driven chip demand as the growth driver.
• High valuation and insider sales — the stock trades at a P/E of about 54.3 and insiders sold roughly 130,886 shares (~$29.7M) in the past three months, underscoring elevated expectations and limited room for disappointment.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX - Get Free Report) had its target price boosted by stock analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report issued on Thursday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the semiconductor company's stock. Jefferies Financial Group's target price would suggest a potential upside of 18.96% from the company's current price.

LRCX has been the subject of a number of other reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Lam Research from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $290.00 price target (up from $260.00) on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $320.00 price objective (up from $265.00) on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Evercore set a $275.00 target price on shares of Lam Research in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $170.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Twenty-seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $272.73.

Lam Research Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of Lam Research stock opened at $264.79 on Thursday. Lam Research has a 1 year low of $67.55 and a 1 year high of $273.50. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $233.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $196.58. The company has a market capitalization of $330.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.78.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The semiconductor company reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $5.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.70 billion. Lam Research had a return on equity of 62.81% and a net margin of 30.22%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.04 earnings per share. Lam Research has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 1.500-1.800 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Lam Research will post 5.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Ava Harter sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.50, for a total value of $930,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 54,705 shares in the company, valued at $12,718,912.50. This represents a 6.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Douglas R. Bettinger sold 50,057 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were 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 ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 130,886 shares of company stock valued at $29,658,802 in the last three months. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lam Research

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LRCX. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Lam Research by 1,032.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,189 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,025,000 after purchasing an additional 12,936 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new stake in Lam Research in the first quarter valued at approximately $239,000. Gabelli Funds LLC bought a new stake in Lam Research in the second quarter worth approximately $253,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 100,528 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $9,785,000 after purchasing an additional 2,661 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Lam Research by 5,206.7% in the second quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 796 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 781 shares in the last quarter. 84.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lam Research News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Lam reported fiscal Q3 results above estimates — $1.47 non-GAAP EPS vs. $1.36 consensus and $5.84B revenue (up 23.8% YoY). The release highlights record revenue and improved margins that underpinned the rally. PR Newswire
• Positive Sentiment: Management raised FYQ4 guidance: EPS $1.50–1.80 and revenue guidance midpoint (~$6.6B) came in above street expectations, signaling continued WFE strength. That upside to guidance is a primary driver of the rally. MarketBeat — Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: AI-driven chip demand is cited repeatedly as the demand engine — analysts and press note expanding spending on AI logic and memory fabs is lifting orders and margins for Lam’s etch/dep tools. Globe and Mail — Deep Dive
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street raised targets and reiterated buys after the beat — examples include Needham ($300), BofA ($330) and TD Cowen ($340) — adding momentum as analysts push valuation higher. TipRanks — Ratings
• Neutral Sentiment: The company’s earnings call transcript and slide deck are available for investors digging into product-level demand, backlog and capex cadence. Seeking Alpha — Call Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Lam is named as a supplier for large-scale projects (e.g., Tesla Terafab), which supports long-duration revenue potential but requires execution and timelines to play out. Barchart — Terafab
• Negative Sentiment: Some commentators warn LRCX faces an earnings “test” after a sharp pre-report rally; elevated valuation metrics (P/E >50) mean expectations are high and leave limited room for disappointment. Seeking Alpha — Caution

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.

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