Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ: LRCX) ended Monday, December 22, 2025, with another step higher—and a new 52-week high—as investors leaned back into the “AI-driven capex” narrative powering semiconductor equipment stocks into year-end.
LRCX stock price today: what happened into the close (and right after)
Lam Research shares closed at $175.26, up 1.74% on the day, and marked a third straight session of gains. [1]
Key tape points from Monday’s session:
- New 52-week high: $175.96
- Day’s range: $171.49 to $175.96
- Volume: ~10.9 million shares (slightly below recent average, per MarketWatch) [2]
After-hours/overnight trading: extended-hours quotes were modestly positive, but varied as the evening progressed.
- Zacks showed after-market $175.92 (around 6:50 p.m. ET) [3]
- Yahoo Finance showed overnight trading around $176.33 (around 9:02 p.m. ET) [4]
That combination—a breakout to fresh highs followed by steady, slightly higher extended trading—is typically read as a “no negative headline emerged after the bell” setup heading into the next morning.
The broader backdrop: chips led, and the holiday week began with risk-on tone
Lam’s strength didn’t happen in isolation. Monday was a broadly constructive day for U.S. equities, and semiconductors were among the standout groups:
- Reuters highlighted that tech shares helped lift the market, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index was up about 1.2% during the session. [5]
- MarketWatch’s close recap placed LRCX’s gain in the context of a strong tape for major indexes. [6]
- AP also emphasized it was the start of a holiday-shortened week with stocks rising. [7]
This matters because Lam—like most chip-equipment names—often trades with a “macro + sector” overlay: when semis are in favor and growth sentiment is firm, LRCX tends to get a tailwind.
Today’s key narratives on Lam: momentum + AI capex + memory/HBM optimism
Most of Monday’s same-day analysis clustered around three themes:
1) “Momentum trade” confirmation
Zacks’ post-close note framed Monday as LRCX outperforming the market, and pointed out Lam’s strong one-month run versus the broader tech sector and the S&P 500. [8]
2) The “AI buildout lifts equipment spending” framework
A major pillar of the bullish case is that AI data-center demand increases spending not only on leading-edge logic, but also on memory and the process steps needed to manufacture advanced devices.
That’s consistent with industry-level forecasts too. Reuters reported that SEMI expects global wafer-fab equipment sales to rise 9% to $126 billion in 2026, with further growth projected for 2027, citing AI-driven demand for logic and memory chips. [9]
3) “Memory/HBM exposure” as a differentiator
Recent analyst commentary cited in financial media has repeatedly pointed to Lam’s memory exposure and etch leadership as leverage points if the memory upcycle (including HBM buildouts) strengthens into 2026. [10]
Analyst targets and forecasts: why $195–$200 is suddenly a common number
While Monday (Dec. 22) didn’t bring a brand-new, widely syndicated “initiations wave,” much of today’s coverage referenced very recent target hikes that helped fuel last week’s breakout and are still shaping sentiment heading into Tuesday’s open.
Price-target moves cited across today’s reads include:
- Jefferies: target raised to $200 (from $175), Buy [11]
- B. Riley: target raised to $195 (from $180), Buy [12]
- Deutsche Bank: target raised to $195 (from $160), Buy [13]
- Mizuho: target raised to $200 (from $170), Outperform (as referenced in same-day market commentary) [14]
One reason this matters before Tuesday’s open: when multiple targets cluster just above the market, traders often watch whether the stock can hold its breakout and “walk up” toward those targets—or whether it stalls as investors lock in gains.
A caution on “consensus” numbers
Some aggregators still show average targets around the low-$160s, even as the stock trades in the mid-$170s. MarketBeat, for example, cited an average price target around $160.37 alongside a “Moderate Buy” consensus. [15]
That gap can happen when consensus datasets update with a lag after rapid cycles of target revisions—so it’s worth checking how quickly consensus figures catch up versus relying on a single snapshot.
Options positioning: big put volume showed up on the same day LRCX hit a new high
One of the more notable “today” datapoints was unusually large put activity:
- MarketBeat reported traders bought 46,914 put options on Monday—about 44% above typical put volume. [16]
This does not automatically mean investors are bearish. Elevated put volume can reflect:
- Hedging by long holders after a sharp run to highs
- Speculative downside bets expecting a pullback after a breakout
- Volatility strategies around catalysts (macro data, sector news, or positioning ahead of year-end)
What matters heading into Tuesday: whether premarket trading shows follow-through buying (suggesting hedges were precautionary) or profit-taking (suggesting puts were part of a more directional stance).
Fundamentals check: Lam’s latest guidance and the key sensitivity investors still debate
The stock’s run into late December is happening after Lam’s most recent quarterly report (reported Oct. 22, for the quarter ended Sept. 28, 2025). In that release, Lam reported:
- Revenue:$5.32 billion
- Non-GAAP EPS:$1.26 [17]
And it guided for the quarter ended Dec. 28, 2025:
- Revenue:$5.20B ± $300M
- Gross margin:48.4% ± 1% (GAAP)
- Net income per diluted share:$1.15 ± $0.10 [18]
The China exposure angle remains a headline sensitivity
In that same earnings release, Lam’s geographic revenue breakdown for the September 2025 quarter listed China at 43% of revenue (with Taiwan 19%, Korea 15%, Japan 10%, U.S. 6%, etc.). [19]
That’s why LRCX can react sharply to any incremental policy, licensing, or export-control headlines—especially during thin holiday liquidity.
What to know before the market opens Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025
Here are the specific, practical items that could move LRCX (and semis broadly) before and shortly after the open.
1) Key U.S. economic reports hit before or shortly after the bell
Market calendars for Tuesday, Dec. 23 highlight:
- 8:30 a.m. ET:Q3 GDP (delayed report) [20]
- 8:30 a.m. ET:Durable goods orders [21]
- 10:00 a.m. ET:Conference Board consumer confidence (Dec.) — expected 91.7 vs 88.7 prior, per Investing.com [22]
Why LRCX investors care: these releases can swing Treasury yields and the market’s view of the Fed path—both of which feed directly into valuation-sensitive growth stocks, including semiconductor equipment.
2) Holiday-shortened week = thinner liquidity and potentially sharper moves
Multiple outlets emphasized light trading around Christmas:
- Reuters flagged the expectation of lighter volume during the holiday-shortened week. [23]
- U.S. exchanges have an early close on Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025 and markets are closed Thursday, Dec. 25 for Christmas. [24]
Thin liquidity can amplify moves in both directions—especially in high-momentum names like LRCX.
3) Watch the semiconductor complex in premarket: MU/NVDA/ASML/AMAT/KLAC
Monday’s tape was supportive for the group, with Reuters calling out the chip-sector strength and AI-linked leadership. [25]
If premarket futures are stable and semis remain bid, LRCX often benefits from “ETF flow” dynamics into the open.
4) The “breakout level” traders are watching
Because LRCX set a new intraday high ($175.96) and closed near highs, the immediate technical focus for Tuesday is straightforward:
- Can the stock hold above the prior breakout zone (around the recent highs from late last week)?
- Does it push into the upper-$170s on volume—or fade back below the breakout area?
Even investors who don’t trade technically tend to watch these levels because they often influence short-term positioning and headlines.
Bottom line for Tuesday’s open
Lam Research enters Tuesday’s session with:
- Price momentum and a fresh 52-week high from Monday’s close [26]
- A wave of recently raised targets clustering around $195–$200 [27]
- A notable increase in put activity, hinting at either hedging or a more cautious posture after a strong run [28]
- A near-term catalyst stack driven more by macro data and holiday liquidity than company-specific news [29]
If you’re watching LRCX into Tuesday morning, the two biggest swing factors are likely to be (1) how markets digest the 8:30 a.m. ET data, and (2) whether semiconductors broadly stay in “risk-on” mode during a week when liquidity can be patchy.
This article is for informational purposes only and is not financial advice.
References
1. www.marketwatch.com, 2. investor.lamresearch.com, 3. www.zacks.com, 4. finance.yahoo.com, 5. www.reuters.com, 6. www.marketwatch.com, 7. apnews.com, 8. www.nasdaq.com, 9. www.reuters.com, 10. www.investors.com, 11. www.tipranks.com, 12. www.tipranks.com, 13. www.marketbeat.com, 14. www.marketbeat.com, 15. www.marketbeat.com, 16. www.marketbeat.com, 17. investor.lamresearch.com, 18. investor.lamresearch.com, 19. investor.lamresearch.com, 20. www.marketwatch.com, 21. www.marketwatch.com, 22. www.investing.com, 23. www.reuters.com, 24. www.nyse.com, 25. www.reuters.com, 26. www.marketwatch.com, 27. www.tipranks.com, 28. www.marketbeat.com, 29. www.marketwatch.com
