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Lam Research (LRCX) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know

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Lam Research (LRCX - Free Report) closed at $191.26 in the latest trading session, marking a +2.45% move from the prior day. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.47% gain on the day. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.3%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 1.05%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the semiconductor equipment maker had lost 6.02% over the past month. This has lagged the Computer and Technology sector's loss of 3.49% and the S&P 500's loss of 0.08% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from LRCX as it approaches its next earnings release. On that day, LRCX is projected to report earnings of $3.40 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 35.97%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $2.35 billion, down 24.82% from the year-ago period.

LRCX's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $14.33 per share and revenue of $9.64 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of -19.81% and -12.97%, respectively.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for LRCX. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. 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 remained stagnant. LRCX is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

In terms of valuation, LRCX is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 13.02. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 13.95, so we one might conclude that LRCX is trading at a discount comparatively.

It is also worth noting that LRCX currently has a PEG ratio of 1.09. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. Semiconductor Equipment - Wafer Fabrication stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.4 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Semiconductor Equipment - Wafer Fabrication industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 183, which puts it in the bottom 29% 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.

Make sure to utilize Zacks. Com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.


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