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Lam Research (LRCX) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

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Lam Research (LRCX - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $573.20, moving +1.83% from the previous trading session. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 2.24%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 2.51%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.2%.

Heading into today, shares of the semiconductor equipment maker had gained 1.37% over the past month, outpacing the Computer and Technology sector's loss of 3.39% and the S&P 500's loss of 2.58% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from Lam Research as it approaches its next earnings release. On that day, Lam Research is projected to report earnings of $7.58 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 1.2%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $4.27 billion, up 10.96% from the year-ago period.

LRCX's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $32.76 per share and revenue of $17.24 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +20.26% and +17.9%, respectively.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Lam Research. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 4.87% lower. Lam Research is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

Looking at its valuation, Lam Research is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 17.18. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 17.08, which means Lam Research is trading at a premium to the group.

Investors should also note that LRCX has a PEG ratio of 0.91 right now. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. The Semiconductor Equipment - Wafer Fabrication was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.47 at yesterday's closing price.

The Semiconductor Equipment - Wafer Fabrication industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 107, which puts it in the top 43% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.


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