Street Calls of the Week
Investing.com - Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX), which has delivered an impressive 33% return over the past six months and trades near its 52-week high, is maintaining its Buy rating at Stifel as the investment firm released a new note on the Americas Semiconductors, Processors and Components sector. According to InvestingPro analysis, the stock appears overvalued at current levels.
Stifel highlighted that hyperscaler forecasts are trending upward, which could benefit Lam Research’s position in the memory market.
The firm specifically noted that "Increased eSSD appetite/outlook should accelerate upgrade to QLC/higher-layer count NAND, which is right in Lam’s wheelhouse," suggesting potential growth opportunities for the semiconductor equipment manufacturer.
Regarding recent export control concerns, Stifel indicated limited near-term impact on memory supply conditions, despite speculation about tightening supplies due to Korean suppliers’ NAND and DRAM operations in China.
The note referenced recent investor conferences where Lam Research and KLA Corporation indicated they "do not anticipate a meaningful impact/disruption shifting to a license approval process" for their operations.
In other recent news, Lam Research has been in the spotlight with several developments. The company reported quarterly results that surpassed both Stifel’s and consensus estimates for revenue and earnings. This strong performance was bolstered by record results in the foundry segment, largely attributed to increased activity in China and NAND upgrades. Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley downgraded Lam Research from Equalweight to Underweight, citing a projected slowdown in growth drivers in China and the NAND memory markets. Despite this, Cantor Fitzgerald raised its price target for Lam Research to $120, maintaining a Buy rating, and highlighted the company’s competitive positioning and new product platforms. Erste Group also initiated coverage with a Buy rating, emphasizing Lam Research’s benefits from the expanding market for specialized semiconductor wafer manufacturing equipment. Additionally, Stifel increased its price target to $115, maintaining a Buy rating, following the company’s impressive quarterly performance. In related industry news, Sandisk and other storage companies saw stock gains due to new export regulations that are expected to impact memory chip production in China.
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