Lam Research Corporation (LRCX)

Lam Research reported record revenue of $8.22 billion for the quarter ended 27 September 2026, in a results release dated 21 October 1. That was up 22 percent from $6.72 billion in the June 2026 quarter 1.

Operating margin, the share of revenue left after running costs, reached 40.0 percent, and diluted earnings per share were $2.19 1. Chief executive Tim Archer said artificial intelligence is driving higher chip demand and greater device complexity 1.

For the quarter ending 27 December 2026, the company guided to revenue of $8.60 billion, plus or minus $400 million 1. Chief financial officer Doug Bettinger said that guide would have been a bit higher without near-term supply chain constraints 4.

China was 35 percent of September quarter revenue, up from 26 percent in June, and the company expects a significantly lower share in December 4. Archer said a firmer view of 2027 industry spending should come on the January call 4. The annual meeting is on 3 November 2026 8.

Lam Research was incorporated in 1980 and is headquartered in Fremont, California 2. It grew its etch and deposition lines in part by buying Novellus Systems in June 2012, which brought in the plating and chemical vapor deposition businesses that executives such as Archer came from 2.

In fiscal 2022, memory chipmakers were 60 percent of the company's equipment and upgrade revenue, with foundry at 26 percent and logic at 14 percent 6. Revenue that year was $17.23 billion 6. Fiscal 2023 revenue was $17.43 billion, close to the year before, with memory still at 42 percent of equipment revenue 6.

Fiscal 2024 was the down year 6. Revenue fell 14.5 percent to $14.91 billion from $17.43 billion 56. The company tied the fall mainly to weak NAND memory, partly offset by DRAM and more sales to Chinese customers 6.

Fiscal 2025 reversed it 5. Revenue rose 23.7 percent to $18.44 billion on strong demand for equipment and for support revenue, across memory and non-memory customers 5.

Foundry customers, the contract chipmakers, rose from 38 percent of equipment and upgrade revenue in fiscal 2023 to 45 percent in fiscal 2025 5. That shift came as memory held at 42 percent and logic makers that build their own chips slid from 20 percent to 13 percent 5.

Fiscal 2026 ended on 28 June 2026 2. Revenue rose 26.0 percent to $23.23 billion, and net income rose 35.6 percent to $7.27 billion 2.

The company said systems revenue, from new equipment, grew $3.39 billion, or 29.5 percent, mainly on foundry customers' spending 2. Customer support revenue, from services, spares and older tools, rose 20.2 percent to $8.35 billion 2.

Gross margin, revenue minus the cost of making and servicing the tools, rose to 50.5 percent of revenue from 48.7 percent, largely on a favorable customer mix, partly offset by aluminum and steel tariff costs 2. Foundry reached 54 percent of equipment revenue 2.

Cash from operations of $5.86 billion in fiscal 2026 went to $3.85 billion of share repurchases, $1.27 billion of dividends, $966.4 million of capital spending and $755.4 million of debt repayment 2.

Trade rules shaped the stretch 2. Non-U.S. sales were about 93 percent of revenue in each of fiscal 2024, 2025 and 2026, and the company says U.S. export license requirements have hit its sales to China 2.

Systems: deposition, etch and clean

Lam sells the machines that build chip layers 2. Deposition tools lay down thin films of metal and insulator, etch tools carve patterns into them, and clean tools wash wafers between steps 2. Systems revenue was $14.89 billion in fiscal 2026 2.

Its deposition brands include ALTUS for tungsten and molybdenum, SABRE for copper plating, Striker for atomic layer films and VECTOR for insulating films 2. Its etch brands include Akara, Kiyo, Flex, Syndion and the selective-etch families Argos, Prevos and Selis 2.

The Aether family is a dry resist process for extreme ultraviolet lithography, the finest way to print chip patterns 2. Archer said Aether is already ramping in high-bandwidth memory production and cut the exposure dose by 10 percent in a High-NA test 4.

The company names Applied Materials as its primary rival in dielectric and metals deposition, and ASM International and Wonik IPS in atomic layer and plasma-enhanced films 2. In etch it names Applied Materials, Hitachi and Tokyo Electron 2.

Customer support

The Customer Support Business Group sells services, spares, upgrades and older tools under the Reliant brand to keep installed machines running 2. Its revenue, with other support items, was $8.35 billion in fiscal 2026 2.

In the September quarter this revenue was nearly $2.5 billion, a fourth straight record, according to the call 4.

Advanced packaging and new materials

Advanced packaging stacks and connects chips in new ways 4. Archer said Lam has shipped panel-level plating systems to more than 20 customers and calls packaging a major growth driver 4.

Archer also said Lam won tool-of-record positions in four products at a leading customer for backside power, a design that moves power wiring to the back of the wafer, at 2 nanometers and below 4.

Markets and regions

In the September quarter, memory and foundry were each 46 percent of systems revenue, and logic and other were 8 percent 4. Memory systems revenue grew 120 percent from a year earlier 4.

By region, the release lists China at 35 percent of revenue, Korea 20 percent, Taiwan 18 percent, Japan 9 percent, the United States 8 percent, Southeast Asia 6 percent and Europe 4 percent 1.

Four customers made up about 16, 15, 12 and 12 percent of fiscal 2026 revenue 2. The annual report names Micron, Samsung, SK hynix and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing among its most significant customers 2.

Plants and people

Principal operating and research sites are in Fremont and Livermore, California; Tualatin, Oregon; Yongin, Korea; Bengaluru, India; and Salzburg and Villach, Austria 2. The company owns the majority of the Fremont, Livermore and Tualatin facilities and its plants in Sherwood, Oregon, Ohio and Malaysia 2.

As of 4 August 2026 the company had about 23,300 regular full-time employees, and over 26 percent worked in research and development 2. About 38 percent were in the United States, 56 percent in Asia and 6 percent in Europe 2.

Timothy Archer has been president and chief executive since December 2018, and Douglas Bettinger is chief financial officer 2. Sesha Varadarajan became chief operating officer in March 2026 2. Abhijit Talwalkar chairs the board 8.

Directors Sohail Ahmed and Michael Cannon told the board on 24 August 2026 they would retire effective 2 November 2026, shrinking the board from 12 to 10 directors 7.

Rivals and current problems

The company warns that U.S. export controls and China's own controls on rare earth elements could limit sales or delay supplies 2. It says it is not currently a party to any legal proceedings it believes material 2.

Supply is the nearer problem 4. Archer said clean room space and component limits will keep holding back chipmakers and equipment makers in calendar 2027 4.

The umbrella, in words

The brands are product families, not separate companies: ALTUS, SABRE, Striker, VECTOR, Akara, Kiyo, Flex, Syndion, Aether and Reliant, among others 2. Lam Research Corporation is itself the parent; the annual report lists no larger company above it 2.

Exhibit 21 to the annual report lists subsidiaries as of 7 August 2026, including Novellus Systems, Silfex, Coventor, and Lam Research units in Austria, China, Korea, Taiwan and elsewhere, and it omits some small ones 9.

Vanguard Capital Management reported owning 7.49 percent of the common stock, or 93,575,293 shares, as of 31 March 2026 in a Schedule 13G 10.

For the quarter ending 27 December 2026, the company expects revenue of $8.60 billion, plus or minus $400 million 1. It expects gross margin of 52.5 percent and operating margin of 40.5 percent, each plus or minus 1 point 1. It expects earnings per diluted share of $2.33, plus or minus $0.15, on 1.253 billion shares 1.

Archer said the company expects wafer fabrication equipment spending in the mid $150 billion range for calendar 2026 4. He gave a preliminary 2027 outlook above $200 billion, led by DRAM, then leading-edge foundry logic and NAND 4.

The company expects 2026 systems revenue to grow well over 40 percent, and support revenue to grow more than 30 percent in 2026 and over 15 percent in 2027 4.

It now expects Aether revenue to reach about $2.5 billion cumulatively by the end of the decade, roughly $1 billion above its earlier view, and says customer visibility extends through 2028 4.

Archer said the company would sharpen its 2027 spending view on the January call, once clean room schedules and supply limits are clearer 4.

Stockholders vote on 3 November 2026 on ten director nominees, an advisory vote on executive pay, KPMG as auditor for fiscal 2027, and a stockholder proposal the board opposes 8. Two directors retire from the board on 2 November 7.

Bettinger said that anything Lam would have shipped in December because of timing, it will ship in the March quarter 4. Archer said the NAND upgrade cycle to higher-layer devices should finish in 2027, and then roll to the next upgrade cycle 4.

Under accelerated repurchase agreements signed in the September 2026 quarter, the company prepaid $1.00 billion 3. It took about 2.3 million shares at the start and expects the agreements to settle in the quarter ending 27 December 2026 3.