NEW YORK, Jan 31, 2026, 05:42 EST — Market closed
Lam Research Corporation shares (LRCX.O) closed Friday down 5.9%, settling at $233.46. The stock fluctuated between a high near $251.90 and a low around $232.28 during the session. With U.S. markets closed over the weekend, the next price action will depend largely on how investors interpret the company’s outlook and risk disclosures ahead of Monday’s open.
This shift is crucial since Lam serves as a bellwether for wafer fabrication equipment (WFE) — the expensive machinery essential for producing chip wafers. Its guidance often recalibrates forecasts for chip investments linked to AI servers and cutting-edge memory. The market has shown little tolerance for anything less than faster growth in this space.
The broader market also retreated Friday, with the Nasdaq sliding 0.94% as investors digested Donald Trump’s choice of Kevin Warsh to replace Jerome Powell at the Fed, along with new inflation figures. “Markets are calibrating” to Warsh’s nomination, noted Michael Hans of Citizens Wealth. Chip-equipment maker KLA Corp plunged 15.2% on the session. (Reuters)
Lam reported December-quarter revenue of $5.34 billion and adjusted earnings of $1.27 a share in an 8-K filing dated Jan. 28. Looking ahead to the quarter ending March 29, the company forecast revenue around $5.70 billion, with a $300 million margin either way, adjusted earnings near $1.35 a share, plus or minus 10 cents, and a gross margin close to 49%, give or take one percentage point. “Lam delivered another strong quarter to cap a record year,” CEO Tim Archer said. China accounted for 35% of revenue in the quarter. (Quotemedia)
LSEG data in a separate report pegged Wall Street’s estimate for Lam’s March-quarter revenue at $5.34 billion, with adjusted earnings of $1.20 per share—both shy of Lam’s midpoint guidance. The report also highlighted Lam’s memory segment as a possible upside, driven by rising demand for high-bandwidth memory—the stacked, high-speed chips powering AI accelerators. (Reuters)
A quarterly report filed on Jan. 29 highlighted the downside. The 10-Q cautioned that tariffs and export controls — including tougher U.S. export-license rules impacting sales connected to China — have constrained some business and could further shrink the market for its tools. At the same time, these rules may give an edge to competitors not subject to the same restrictions. (Quotemedia)
The peer read-through has been messy. KLA topped estimates, yet its shares fell in after-hours trading. “The problem is that the stock had already sprinted into the print,” said Michael Ashley Schulman of Running Point Capital Advisors. (Reuters)
Lam now faces the question of whether strong demand will continue to drive orders and if services revenue can cushion any dips in new-tool shipments. Friday’s slide in the stock indicates investors remain uncertain about how much of the positive outlook is already reflected in the price.
Shares of peers like Applied Materials and ASML often influence Lam on a daily basis, particularly during risk-off swings. That connection has grown stronger recently—and not always for the better.
Next week kicks off with a busy earnings calendar and the U.S. jobs report, both likely to influence high-multiple tech stocks early on. Key data points arrive quickly: the ISM manufacturing PMI, a closely watched gauge of factory activity, is set for 10:00 a.m. EST Monday, Feb. 2. Then on Friday, Feb. 6 at 8:30 a.m. ET, the Labor Department releases its January employment report. (Reuters)
