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Lam Research (LRCX) Moves 5.2% Higher: Will This Strength Last?

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Lam Research (LRCX - Free Report) shares ended the last trading session 5.2% higher at $826.32. The jump came on an impressive volume with a higher-than-average number of shares changing hands in the session. This compares to the stock's 1.1% gain over the past four weeks.

Lam Research extended its rally, driven by its strength across 3D DRAM and advanced packaging technologies. Further, growing etch and deposition intensity owing to increasing technology inflections in 3D architectures, is a positive. The company's technological advancements, especially with AI, remain noteworthy.

This semiconductor equipment maker is expected to post quarterly earnings of $7.05 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -34.2%. Revenues are expected to be $3.71 billion, down 29.7% from the year-ago quarter.

Earnings and revenue growth expectations certainly give a good sense of the potential strength in a stock, but empirical research shows that trends in earnings estimate revisions are strongly correlated with near-term stock price movements.

For Lam Research, the consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days. And a stock's price usually doesn't keep moving higher in the absence of any trend in earnings estimate revisions. So, make sure to keep an eye on LRCX going forward to see if this recent jump can turn into more strength down the road.

The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>>

Lam Research belongs to the Zacks Semiconductor Equipment - Wafer Fabrication industry. Another stock from the same industry, ASML (ASML - Free Report) , closed the last trading session 1.8% higher at $757.83. Over the past month, ASML has returned -1.4%.

ASML's consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has remained unchanged over the past month at $5.12. Compared to the company's year-ago EPS, this represents a change of +8.9%. ASML currently boasts a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).


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