NEW YORK, May 28, 2026, 10:04 EDT
Lam Research stock dropped 2.6% to $310.58 early Thursday on Nasdaq after a strong rally. Shares started at $317.45 and hit a session low at $309.82.
Mizuho lifted its price target on Lam to $380 from $330 on Wednesday and kept its Outperform rating. The firm also bumped up its 2026 and 2027 wafer-fab equipment forecasts. WFE, or wafer-fab equipment, refers to the gear chipmakers use to put circuits on silicon wafers. The move landed at a time when it couldn’t be shrugged off as just noise.
Nasdaq ran regular hours, not a holiday schedule. The exchange’s 2026 calendar shows Memorial Day, May 25, as a closed day. Trading is set for a 9:30 a.m. ET open and a 4 p.m. ET close, according to the Nasdaq Stock Market.
Lam shares had been trading near a high. The stock finished Wednesday at $318.93, down 1.16%. That snapped a four-day run, but it’s still just 1.56% off its 52-week peak at $323.98, MarketWatch said.
The decline wasn’t limited to Lam. Applied Materials lost around 2.0% to $439.23, and KLA shed 2.9% to $1,900.82. Both are key chip-equipment peers and tend to move with Lam as investors adjust their views on factory spending.
Major indexes were mostly flat at the open as traders eyed inflation numbers and fresh concerns out of the Middle East. The Nasdaq Composite edged up 0.04% at the bell, Reuters said.
Lam is still leaning on strong spending by AI chip and memory makers. For the March quarter, Lam reported $5.84 billion in revenue and adjusted earnings of $1.47 a share. The company guided for June-quarter revenue of $6.60 billion, give or take $400 million, and projected adjusted EPS of $1.65, plus or minus 15 cents. CEO Tim Archer said Lam posted “record revenue and EPS” as AI demand shifts the industry. Lam Research Newsroom
Lam isn’t only looking to sell more tools, it’s working to make them smarter. Archer told Reuters last week that having more machine and wafer data improves its models. Lam is looking to Arizona, saying it’s a place “we need to be” as it supports customers TSMC and Micron. Reuters
Investors may be pricing in a clean upcycle, but the industry doesn’t usually play along. Lam Research got 34% of its revenue from China in the March quarter. Korea and Taiwan each brought in 23%. That leaves Lam with a big exposure if Asian demand or trade policies shift.
The downside risk is real. Reuters said in April that U.S. regulators told some chip tool makers like Lam, Applied Materials and KLA to stop some shipments to China’s Hua Hong. If the curbs get tougher or if customers in memory or foundries hold off on new capital spending, the stock might look pricey.
Lam is acting as a fast trade on the AI build theme right now—solid recent results, a new price target up, but some profit-taking kicks in after the stock’s rally. The only planned event coming up is CFO Doug Bettinger at the Bank of America Global Technology Conference on June 2, Lam said.
