Lam Research Corp. (NASDAQ:LRCX) said Thursday it plans to invest more than $3 billion over the next five years to expand its global research and development lab network as artificial intelligence drives demand for more advanced chips.
The semiconductor equipment maker said the investment should increase its experiment capacity by more than 50%. The expansion will begin this year and span facilities in the U.S., Asia and Europe.
CEO Tim Archer said the AI era requires new chip architectures, materials and increasingly complex features. Lam aims to use the investment to shorten development cycles from early research through deployment in semiconductor fabrication plants.
Stock Performance And Technical Analysis
LRCX stock fell about 1% in premarket trading Friday after closing 3.34% higher in the previous session. Nasdaq futures rose 0.20%, while S&P 500 futures gained 0.10%.
Lam Research traded at $334.56 in Friday’s premarket session. The stock sits 0.9% below its 50-day simple moving average of $337.70.
However, shares remain 9.5% above the 20-day SMA of $305.42 and 34.5% above the 200-day SMA of $248.68. Those levels suggest the longer-term uptrend remains intact despite the recent volatility.
The 20-day SMA remains below the 50-day SMA, signaling some near-term weakness. However, the 50-day SMA remains above the 200-day SMA, supporting the longer-term bullish trend.
Meanwhile, the MACD is above its signal line, and the histogram is positive. That suggests momentum has improved and selling pressure may be easing.
Key support sits near $313. That level is also close to the 20-day exponential moving average of $314.67.
Lam Research Analyst Outlook
The stock carries a consensus Buy rating and an average price forecast of $384.84. Recent analyst moves include:
Morgan Stanley maintained an Overweight rating on July 30 but lowered its price forecast to $367. B. Riley Securities maintained a Buy rating and cut its forecast to $350. Wells Fargo also maintained an Overweight rating and lowered its forecast to $350.
Benzinga Edge Rankings
Lam Research has strong Momentum, Growth and Quality scores in the Benzinga Edge Rankings.
Its Momentum score stands at 96.94, while Growth is 93.91 and Quality is 97.36. However, its Value score is just 5.06. The readings point to strong growth and momentum but also highlight the stock’s premium valuation.
Lam Research Price Action
LRCX Stock Price Activity: Lam Research shares were down 0.73% at $334.56 during premarket trading on Friday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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