Very little debt to repay and plenty of cash on hand, so it is hard to shake.
Metrics · D/E ~35% · Current Ratio 2.54
💲Is the price expensive now?
On the expensive side
Even accounting for growth expectations, the price is set high.
Metrics · P/E 57.6 · P/B 36.1
💡Etch-equipment oligopolist at 34.3% operating margin and 66.8% ROE, D/E 0.35. The 57.7x P/E is a cycle-peak valuation; ROE is elevated by buybacks.
Compiled from public financial data. Not a recommendation to buy or sell any security. · Source: stockanalysis (margins, ROE, P/B are TTM) · P/E on the July 24 close, as of 2026-07-24
Business Summary · Key Value Metrics
An oligopolist in the etch and deposition equipment used to make chips. It sells the tools that carve and layer microcircuits onto wafers to fabs, and earns recurring revenue supplying service and parts to a 90,000-plus installed base. AI and HBM investment has it in an up-cycle. TTM revenue $21.68B, operating margin 34.3%, ROE 66.8%.
Current Price
$305.21
-4.56%-$14.57· Close 2026-07-24
Analyst Consensus Target (external reference)
$368.26
Avg. of 35 external analysts · stockanalysis (S&P Global 35-analyst consensus, Strong Buy · high $500 / low $220)
P/E (TTM)
57.7x
TTM · cycle-peak valuation
Operating margin
34.3%
TTM · high among equipment three
ROE
66.8%
TTM · elevated by buybacks
Net margin
30.9%
TTM
Debt/Equity
0.35x
current ratio 2.54
Market cap
$381.7B
as of 2026-07-24
Economic Moat · Key Business Segments
Lam's moat is oligopoly position in front-end etch and deposition. It holds roughly 45% of etch and 17% of deposition, forming a small ruling group with Applied Materials (AMAT) and Tokyo Electron (TEL). Tools are locked into yield and process, so switching costs are extreme, and service, parts, and upgrades to a 90,000-plus installed base (CSBG, ~40% of FY2025 revenue) are high-margin recurring revenue that cushions the equipment cycle (Source: company IR, stockanalysis).
Etch/deposition oligopoly
~45% etch, ~17% deposition. A ruling few with AMAT and TEL; technical difficulty is the barrier.
40% recurring installed base
Service, parts, upgrades on 90,000+ tools. High-margin recurring revenue that cushions the cycle.
High switching costs
Locked into yield and process integration. Fabs rarely swap a qualified tool.
AI/HBM tailwind
AI chip and high-bandwidth-memory investment structurally lifts etch and deposition demand.
10-Year Financial Trends
Revenue compounded at a 9-year CAGR of +13.5% ($5.9B in FY2016 to $18.4B in FY2025). It rides the wafer-fab-equipment (WFE) cycle: FY2024 was the trough ($14.9B, EPS $2.90) and it has recovered to double-digit quarterly growth. EPS is standardized to current terms for the 2024 10:1 split ($0.52 to $4.15). FY2018 net income rose despite a $771M TCJA transition tax, on surging pretax income. Operating margin holds in the 30-32% range. Q3 FY2026 (ended March 29): revenue $5.84B (+24% YoY), net income $1.83B (Source: SEC EDGAR 10-K, company IR, stockanalysis).
9-Year CAGR: Revenue +13.5% · Operating Income +20.9% · Net Income +21.7% · EPS +25.9%
Source: SEC EDGAR 10-K (revenue, operating income, net income, diluted EPS, equity); June year-end closes from Yahoo Finance; cross-checked against stockanalysis. LRCX did a 10:1 split in 2024, so pre-split EPS is standardized to current terms as NI ÷ diluted shares. P/E is June-end close ÷ diluted EPS and matches stockanalysis for FY2023-2025 (36.72, 23.42, 19.31). FY2024 was a semiconductor-equipment cycle trough.
Mega-Cap Value Metric Comparison
Lam's 34.3% operating margin and 66.8% ROE rank high among equipment peers (Applied 30.3%/39.7%, KLA 41.7%/95.0%). Its 57.7x P/E is above Applied (50.4) and near KLA (59.6); all three carry cycle-peak valuations on AI-capex expectations. Lam's 66.8% ROE is elevated by buybacks (Source: stockanalysis, company IR).
China export controls— China was about 43% of revenue in the latest quarter. Under U.S. export controls on chip equipment, the company expects China below 30% in 2026 and roughly $600M of lost annual revenue. Tighter rules hit directly.Source: company IR, industry reports
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Cycle peak and high valuation together— Revenue and margins sit near a recovery peak while the 57.7x P/E is at the top of its 10-year range. Equipment is cyclical (FY2024 fell -15%), and high valuation on peak earnings amplifies drawdowns in a correction.Source: company 10-K, stockanalysis
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30% below its 52-week high— At $305.21 the stock is 30% under its $438.50 high, on a post-rally correction and China-rule headlines. Not a structural break, but cycle and regulatory uncertainty remain.Source: stockanalysis
✦ ValueCrab Dashboard PreviewLRCX $305.21 -4.56% · as of 2026-07-24
Q. What are the key value metrics for Lam Research (LRCX)?P/E (TTM) 57.7, operating margin 34.3%, ROE 66.8%, net margin 30.9%, debt-to-equity 0.35x, and a 9-year revenue CAGR of +13.5% (Source: stockanalysis, SEC EDGAR, as of 2026-07-24).
Q. How is chip equipment evaluated?The WFE (front-end equipment) cycle and the share of recurring service/parts revenue that cushions it. Lam holds ~45% of etch and ~17% of deposition, and service on its 90,000+ installed base was about 40% of FY2025 revenue. The data shows how well that recurring base defends a down-cycle.
Q. Isn't a 57x P/E too expensive?It is a cycle-peak valuation on AI chip investment. Equipment is cyclical with repeating troughs (FY2024 fell -15%), so both earnings and the P/E are near 10-year highs. It is not a 'buy now' name but a candidate to accumulate when a crash brings both cycle and valuation down together.
Q. How serious is the China risk?China was ~43% of the latest quarter's revenue, exposing Lam directly to U.S. export controls. The company sees China below 30% in 2026 and about $600M of lost annual revenue. AI and HBM investment demand offsets much of that, however.