New York, Feb 21, 2026, 14:48 EST — The market wrapped up trading.
- Lam Research climbed 3.2% to close at $244.92 on Friday, ahead of other chip-tool stocks.
- BofA’s Vivek Arya stuck with his Buy rating and $285 price target, highlighting that chip-fab tool spending is set to climb in 2026.
- Headlines around tariffs and rates still pose a risk as markets open again Monday.
Lam Research Corporation (LRCX) jumped 3.2% Friday, closing at $244.92—the strongest showing for the stock all week—after Bank of America singled out the chip-equipment maker just before next week’s trades kick in. Shares bounced between $236.68 and $245.70, with roughly 8.6 million changing hands. Applied Materials finished up 1.4%, KLA picked up 1.8%, and Nvidia tacked on nearly 1%.
Bank of America Securities’ Vivek Arya is sticking with his Buy rating and a $285 target on Lam, about 16% above where shares ended on Friday. Arya has Lam as his top semiconductor-equipment pick, and says the upcycle is going to be capped by “clean-room constraints — not demand.” He points to an expected $135 billion in wafer fabrication equipment (WFE) spending for 2026, a 23% jump versus the prior year. According to Arya, foundry/logic and DRAM are still driving demand, while NAND is starting to see more upgrades, and he thinks the cycle could run through 2027. 1
Timing’s key here. Semiconductor tool names have jerked around with every move in rates and trade headlines, and Friday just kept that pattern: U.S. equities ended up, Treasury yields climbed, after the Supreme Court nixed President Donald Trump’s tariffs. Investors also juggled a weak GDP print and hotter-than-expected numbers in the Fed’s favored inflation gauge, the personal consumption expenditures price index. “Striking down of these tariffs will benefit corporate bottom lines, corporate earnings,” said Tim Ghriskey, senior portfolio strategist at Ingalls & Snyder. 2
Lam is still working off its most recent numbers. Back in late January, the company guided for third-quarter revenue of $5.7 billion, give or take $300 million, and pegged adjusted earnings at $1.35 a share, with a 10-cent swing either way, after it outperformed in the December quarter. “Entering 2026, our expanding product and services portfolio is enabling the market’s transition to smaller, more complex three-dimensional devices and packages,” CEO Tim Archer said at the time. 3
Investors are picking apart demand versus delivery capability. For chip tools, it’s all about the pace of new clean-room buildouts, plus the timelines for system installation and production qualification.
Lam usually trades in step with other U.S. equipment stocks, given the shared capex cycle set by their customers. Still, the stock is prone to sharper swings when memory spending forecasts change. Traders don’t hesitate—they’re quick to jump on every new data point, buying or selling in response.
Lam’s got a date circled, though not immediately. CFO Doug Bettinger is set to speak at the Morgan Stanley TMT Conference on March 3, followed by the Cantor Global Technology & Industrial Growth Conference March 11. Both sessions will stream live for public listeners. 4
Still, there’s a catch. After his earlier program was tossed out by the court, Trump on Saturday pledged to lift the temporary tariff on U.S. imports from 10% up to 15%, renewing fears about policy reversals and the uncertain inflation outlook. Should rates climb again—or if customers start pulling back while chipmakers bump up against their own production ceilings—the momentum in high-multiple chip stocks could evaporate quickly. 5
Monday brings fresh scrutiny for chip-tool names after Friday’s surge. Traders eye futures’ response to weekend tariff chatter and keep a close watch on what yields signal next.
All eyes turn to the AI supply chain midweek, with Nvidia set to report after the bell on Feb. 25—conference call at 5 p.m. ET. Investors will be tracking any hint of change in data-center demand, which could quickly swing through the chip supply chain, right down to equipment bookings for players like Lam. 6
