New York, January 8, 2026, 11:27 EST — Regular session
- Lam Research shares fell about 2.2% as semiconductor equipment stocks weakened.
- A Cantor Fitzgerald analyst lifted his price target, but the group tracked the broader chip pullback.
- Traders are watching Friday’s U.S. jobs report and Lam’s Jan. 28 results call.
Lam Research shares fell 2.2% to $198.62 on Thursday, tracking a broader drop in semiconductor names. The stock touched $195.14 at its low so far.
Lam, a major supplier of chipmaking tools, tends to swing with expectations for factory spending and the pace of upgrades at big chipmakers. That matters now because rate-sensitive tech has been jittery, and investors are trying to pin down whether early-year momentum can hold into earnings season.
Applied Materials slid about 4.0%, KLA fell roughly 2.7% and ASML’s U.S.-listed shares dropped about 3.9%, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF was down around 2.4%.
Treasury yields rose and stocks opened lower after U.S. data showed weekly jobless claims increased modestly and third-quarter worker productivity accelerated. “Firms are successfully doing more with less labor,” said Matthew Martin, senior U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, while Capital Economics’ Paul Ashworth called the productivity jump “good news for the inflation outlook.” Reuters
The next test comes on Friday, when the Labor Department releases the December employment report at 8:30 a.m. ET, with the Fed’s Jan. 27-28 meeting also in view. The Chicago Fed estimated the unemployment rate held at 4.6% in December, Reuters reported.
Lam closed down 1.87% at $203.08 on Wednesday, ending a three-session winning streak, and volume rose to 14.8 million shares, above its 50-day average, MarketWatch data showed. The stock is about 3.5% below its 52-week high of $210.45 set on Jan. 6.
Cantor Fitzgerald analyst C.J. Muse raised his price target on Lam to $265 from $210 and kept an Overweight rating. Muse said “conviction remains high” as wafer fabrication equipment — the machines used to make chips — rises into 2026-2028. TipRanks
But the stock’s recent run leaves little room for a messy quarter. Any sign that customers are delaying tool orders, or a rate shock from Friday’s jobs data, could deepen the pullback.
Lam said it will host its quarterly financial conference call on Jan. 28 at 5 p.m. ET. Investors will look for guidance on tool demand into 2026 and any read-through on spending tied to AI-driven data-center buildouts.
