New York, Feb 13, 2026, 11:52 (EST) — Regular session
Lam Research (LRCX.O) shares rose 2.3% to $236.72 in late-morning trading on Friday, trimming a sharp dip from the prior session and pushing back toward this week’s highs. The stock traded between $232.22 and $242.77 on the day.
The move followed a sector bounce after Applied Materials forecast quarterly revenue and profit above Wall Street estimates, leaning on AI-related demand and a tighter memory market. Applied’s CEO Gary Dickerson called the outlook “fueled by the acceleration of industry investments in AI computing,” and Morningstar’s William Kerwin said he expects “a massive wafer fabrication equipment growth cycle” over the next three years. Wafer-fab equipment refers to the machines used to etch and layer materials on silicon wafers to make chips. (Reuters)
Broader markets also found some footing after U.S. inflation data came in softer than expected, nudging Treasury yields lower and keeping rate-cut hopes alive. “The trend in disinflation continues,” Michael Metcalfe, head of macro strategy at State Street Markets, said in a note cited by Reuters. (Reuters)
Other semiconductor equipment names were mixed but mostly higher, with Applied Materials up 8.8%, KLA up 0.5% and ASML up 0.3% in U.S. trading. Semiconductor exchange-traded funds were modestly firmer, with iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) up about 1% and VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) up 0.7%.
Lam had closed down 1.6% on Thursday at $231.29 as the Nasdaq slid more than 2% in a tech-led retreat ahead of Friday’s inflation data. That left chip stocks vulnerable to fast reversals on any hint that interest rates could fall sooner, or stay higher for longer. (Reuters)
Lam, a key supplier of chipmaking gear, is often traded as a proxy for shifts in chipmakers’ capital spending, or capex — the money they commit to new factories and equipment. A lot of the optimism now rests on whether AI servers keep pulling in high-bandwidth memory (HBM), a faster type of memory used in many AI processors, and whether that demand translates into sustained tool orders. (Reuters)
Still, the rally has a familiar risk: expectations are high and the sector sells off quickly when investors doubt the payoff from big AI spending plans. “You’re discounting a lot of earnings streams that have to come to fruition,” Brent Schutte, chief investment officer at Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management, told Reuters. (Reuters)
Traders now turn to the close and the next session for follow-through — and that wait will be longer than usual. U.S. markets are closed on Monday, Feb. 16 for Presidents Day, with trading set to resume on Tuesday, Feb. 17. (Nyse)
