Lam Research (LRCX) Stock Surges as Wall Street Keeps Raising the Bar

TLDR

• Lam Research (LRCX) gapped up 7.5%, opening at $365.13 after Mizuho raised its price target from $380 to $400 with an Outperform rating.
• Multiple analysts have lifted targets recently, with Susquehanna the most bullish at $475 and Stifel Nicolaus at $500.
• LRCX now holds 28 Buy ratings and 6 Hold ratings, with a MarketBeat consensus of Moderate Buy.
• Last quarter, LRCX beat EPS estimates ($1.47 vs $1.36 expected) and revenue came in at $5.84 billion, up 23.8% year-over-year.
• Mizuho raised its global wafer fabrication equipment (WFE) estimate for 2027 to $192 billion, up 25% year-over-year, citing AI-driven demand.

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Lam Research (LRCX) opened Thursday at $365.13, up 7.5% from its prior close of $333.15, after Mizuho raised its price target to $400 from $380 and kept its Outperform rating. The stock last traded around $364.95.

Lam Research Corporation, LRCX

The move came as Mizuho pointed to growing AI demand as a driver for wafer fabrication equipment spending over the next several years. The firm sees global WFE reaching $192 billion in 2027, a 25% jump year-over-year, following an estimated 23% rise in 2026.

Mizuho also introduced estimates for 2028 and 2029, projecting WFE at $221 billion and $214 billion respectively. The firm expects AI, memory, and foundry investment to fuel multi-year equipment demand.

Memory spending is a key part of that story. Mizuho flagged HBM capex accelerating into 2027-28 as manufacturers build capacity ahead of 2028 production starts. A growing supply-demand gap in global memory is also seen as a tailwind.

Analyst Price Targets Keep Climbing

Mizuho wasn’t alone in lifting its target. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised its target from $305 to $420 with a Buy rating in mid-June. Citigroup also reiterated a Buy and lifted its target from $315 to $450 around the same time.

Susquehanna set a $475 target at the end of June, reiterating a Positive rating. Stifel Nicolaus went further, setting a $500 target on June 29th. HSBC was more cautious, moving its Hold-rated target from $221 to $247 back in April.

Cantor Fitzgerald has been among the most bullish, raising its target to $500 and citing market share gains for LRCX among semiconductor capital equipment makers. The firm also pointed to AI-driven demand and advanced packaging as growth drivers.

With all that in mind, LRCX now has 28 Buy ratings and 6 Hold ratings, giving it a MarketBeat consensus of Moderate Buy. The average price target across analysts sits at $348.39.

Earnings Beat Backed the Bullish Case

LRCX’s most recent quarterly results gave analysts something to work with. The company reported EPS of $1.47, topping the $1.36 consensus by $0.11. Revenue came in at $5.84 billion, beating the $5.70 billion estimate.

That revenue figure was up 23.8% from the same quarter a year ago, when EPS was $1.04. Return on equity came in at 66.21%, with a net margin of 30.94%.

For Q4 2026, LRCX has guided for EPS of $1.50 to $1.80. Sell-side analysts currently forecast full-year EPS of $5.68.

On the dividend side, LRCX paid a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share on July 8th. The annualized dividend is $1.04, representing a yield of around 0.3%.

The stock has a market cap of $447.92 billion, a PE ratio of 67.55, and a 200-day moving average of $261.73.