Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Releases Q4 Earnings Guidance

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) issued an update on its fourth quarter earnings guidance on Wednesday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $6.75-$8.25 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $7.30. The company issued revenue guidance of $3.5-$4.1 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $3.77 billion.

Lam Research Price Performance

Shares of LRCX stock traded down $2.53 on Wednesday, reaching $884.89. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,932,666 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,068,214. The company has a quick ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 3.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Lam Research has a 12-month low of $493.42 and a 12-month high of $1,007.39. The company has a market capitalization of $116.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.32, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.51. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $944.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $805.82.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The semiconductor company reported $7.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.06 by $0.46. Lam Research had a return on equity of 44.47% and a net margin of 24.15%. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $10.71 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 28.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Lam Research will post 28.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lam Research Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a dividend of $2.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a $8.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. Lam Research’s payout ratio is 30.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on LRCX shares. B. Riley raised Lam Research from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their price objective for the company from $870.00 to $1,100.00 in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Lam Research from $655.00 to $880.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Lam Research in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They set a hold rating and a $1,000.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Lam Research from $930.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Lam Research from $800.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Lam Research currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $931.85.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Seshasayee Varadarajan sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.41, for a total value of $5,073,255.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 22,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,380,648.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Lam Research news, CAO Christina Corrreia sold 647 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $972.03, for a total value of $628,903.41. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,541 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,386,018.23. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Seshasayee Varadarajan sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.41, for a total transaction of $5,073,255.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 22,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,380,648.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 7,029 shares of company stock valued at $6,559,489. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

About Lam Research

Lam Research Corporation designs, manufactures, markets, refurbishes, and services semiconductor processing equipment used in the fabrication of integrated circuits. The company offers ALTUS systems to deposit conformal films for tungsten metallization applications; SABRE electrochemical deposition products for copper interconnect transition that offers copper damascene manufacturing; SOLA ultraviolet thermal processing products for film treatments; and VECTOR plasma-enhanced CVD ALD products.