New York, February 9, 2026, 11:16 EST — Regular session
- Lam Research slipped roughly 0.6% in late morning trading, bottoming out at $223.61.
- Bernstein upped its price target to $285, sticking with an Outperform rating, MT Newswires said.
- This week, traders have their eyes on the postponed U.S. payrolls data and January CPI, scanning both for signs on where rates might be heading.
Lam Research slipped roughly 0.6%, sitting at $229.73 as of 11:16 a.m. ET. The stock had touched a session low of $223.61 earlier. For the last 52 weeks, the semiconductor equipment maker’s shares have ranged from $71.33 up to $243.99.
Shares barely budged, despite Bernstein bumping its Lam price target up to $285 from $275 and sticking with an Outperform call, according to MT Newswires. The fresh target points to about 24% upside from where the stock closed Monday. Still, chip stocks faced a rough session. 1
The backdrop takes center stage now. U.S. stocks started the session mixed, with investors eyeing a slate of economic data that could jolt interest-rate expectations—Wednesday’s January nonfarm payrolls, then the consumer price index coming Friday. “Investors are less comfortable with the amount of spending,” B Riley Wealth’s Art Hogan said, pointing specifically to the hefty capital spending from the tech giants, which has turned into a sticking point for the market. 2
The debate’s left chip stocks swinging back and forth. In a Reuters “Morning Bid” note, chipmakers led Friday’s bounce—Nvidia, AMD, and Broadcom all surged above 7%. But there’s still unease over the high price tags for hyperscalers. Amazon dropped 5.6% after revealing a steep capital spending hike for 2026. 3
Lam occupies a key spot in the spending loop, supplying deposition and etch equipment—critical machines for layering features onto silicon wafers—to chipmakers scaling up leading-edge logic and advanced memory.
Investors are zeroed in on order momentum right now, watching closely to see if customers stick with their factory expansion plans while the market absorbs the price tag of the AI buildout. Toolmakers can swing from looking sturdy one week to showing their cyclical stripes the next.
There’s a catch: should chipmakers pull back on capex, push off new fabs, or clamp down on spending after this quarter’s guidance, equipment demand could fade fast. And stocks usually adjust before the order books reflect it.
Thursday brings the next test for the sector as Applied Materials prepares to release its fiscal first-quarter numbers after the bell, followed by a 4:30 p.m. ET conference call. Investors will be watching closely for any change in its wafer-fab equipment spending outlook—a move that could sway sentiment for Lam and the rest of the group through week’s end. 4
