Lam Research Stock Surges on Earnings Beat as Stifel Lifts Price Target

Lam Research stock (LRCX) has jumped 3.3% in pre-market trading after the semiconductor equipment manufacturer delivered fiscal second-quarter results that exceeded analyst expectations and provided bullish guidance for the year ahead.

The LRCX stock price is trading at $248.13 into the open, marking a continuation of the company's strong momentum in the semiconductor capital equipment sector.

The rally gained additional support from Stifel analyst Brian Chin, who raised his price target on Lam Research to $280 from $250 while maintaining a Buy rating on the shares. Chin noted that both the fiscal Q2 results and fiscal Q3 guidance surpassed his estimates and consensus forecasts, underscoring the company's robust positioning in a recovering semiconductor equipment market.

Lam Research reported fiscal Q2 2026 revenue of $5.34 billion, comfortably beating the consensus estimate of $5.21 billion and representing a substantial increase from $4.38 billion in the same quarter last year. Earnings per share came in at $1.27, exceeding analyst expectations of $1.17 and reflecting a 39.6% increase from $0.91 in the prior-year period. The results marked Lam Research's tenth consecutive quarter of revenue growth, cementing its status as a key beneficiary of the semiconductor industry's expansion.

The company's performance has attracted widespread attention from the analyst community. Beyond Stifel's upgrade, Morgan Stanley raised its price target to $211 from $158, citing expectations for continued outperformance in 2026 and 2027, particularly in foundry logic and NAND memory technology. Bernstein also increased its target to $170 from $105, expressing confidence in Lam's market position in emerging technologies such as Gate-All-Around architectures and High Bandwidth Memory.

A key highlight from the earnings release was Lam Research's projection for industry wafer fabrication equipment spending to reach $135 billion in calendar year 2026, representing year-over-year growth exceeding 20%. This optimistic outlook reflects accelerating demand for advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment driven by artificial intelligence applications, memory technology advancements, and the ongoing buildout of leading-edge fabrication capacity globally.

The company's system sales grew over 40% year-over-year in 2025, according to Stifel's analysis, demonstrating Lam's ability to outpace broader WFE market growth. This outperformance stems from the company's strong positioning in critical process steps for advanced logic and memory production, areas experiencing particularly robust investment as chipmakers race to meet demand for cutting-edge processors and memory solutions.

Price Targets

Markets appear to be pricing in sustained momentum for Lam Research as semiconductor manufacturers continue their capacity expansion plans. The combination of better-than-expected quarterly results, raised guidance, and bullish industry spending forecasts suggests the company is well-positioned to capitalize on the semiconductor industry's growth trajectory through 2026 and beyond.