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Lam Research (LRCX) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know

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Lam Research (LRCX - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $651.79, moving +0.75% from the previous trading session. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.03%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the semiconductor equipment maker had lost 0.44% over the past month. This has lagged the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 6.22% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.12% in that time.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from LRCX as it approaches its next earnings report date. In that report, analysts expect LRCX to post earnings of $7.53 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 57.53%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $4 billion, up 43.45% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $26.71 per share and revenue of $14.49 billion. These totals would mark changes of +67.46% and +44.23%, respectively, from last year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for LRCX. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month. LRCX is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Digging into valuation, LRCX currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 24.22. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 22.91, which means LRCX is trading at a premium to the group.

Meanwhile, LRCX's PEG ratio is currently 0.74. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. Semiconductor Equipment - Wafer Fabrication stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.2 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Semiconductor Equipment - Wafer Fabrication industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 84, putting it in the top 34% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Make sure to utilize Zacks. Com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.


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