Lam Research (LRCX) closed the latest trading day at $72.70, indicating a +0.12% change from the previous session's end. The stock's change was less than the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.55%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 1.01%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.14%.

The semiconductor equipment maker's shares have seen a decrease of 5.38% over the last month, surpassing the Computer and Technology sector's loss of 8.88% and the S&P 500's loss of 6.22%.

The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Lam Research in its forthcoming earnings report. On that day, Lam Research is projected to report earnings of $1 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 28.21%. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $4.64 billion, indicating a 22.31% growth compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year.

For the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $3.73 per share and a revenue of $17.71 billion, representing changes of +24.75% and +18.82%, respectively, from the prior year.

Additionally, investors should keep an eye on any recent revisions to analyst forecasts for Lam Research. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable 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. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has witnessed a 0.03% increase. Right now, Lam Research possesses a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Lam Research has a Forward P/E ratio of 19.47 right now. This denotes a discount relative to the industry's average Forward P/E of 22.88.

One should further note that LRCX currently holds a PEG ratio of 1.18. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. As the market closed yesterday, the Electronics - Semiconductors industry was having an average PEG ratio of 1.44.

The Electronics - Semiconductors industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 57, placing it within the top 23% of over 250 industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank is ordered 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.

Ensure to harness Zacks.com to stay updated with all these stock-shifting metrics, among others, in the next trading sessions.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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