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AMAT vs LRCX
Which Stock Would AI Choose? Applied Materials (AMAT) vs. Lam Research (LRCX) Stock Comparison
Key Takeaways
- Both AMAT and LRCX have delivered strong year-to-date gains around 70%, far outpacing the S&P 500's performance, driven by AI-related semiconductor demand.
- LRCX has significantly outperformed AMAT over the past year with returns exceeding 250% compared to about 160-180%.
- Recent market activity shows robust momentum for both, with LRCX posting stronger one-month gains around 20-30% amid positive earnings surprises.
- AMAT offers broader diversification across semiconductors, displays, and solar, while LRCX focuses on high-margin wafer processing for AI chips.
- Analyst sentiment remains bullish for both, with raised price targets reflecting AI infrastructure growth, though valuations are elevated.
Introduction
Applied Materials (AMAT) and Lam Research (LRCX) are leading providers of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, pivotal in enabling the production of advanced chips powering AI, data centers, and high-performance computing. This stock comparison is particularly relevant for traders and investors tracking the semiconductor sector's relative performance and market positioning amid surging AI demand. Both companies benefit from cyclical upswings in wafer fabrication equipment (WFE) spending, but differences in business focus, recent momentum, and risk profiles offer key insights for portfolio allocation in the current market environment.
AMAT Overview and Recent Performance
Applied Materials (AMAT) is a diversified leader in materials engineering solutions for semiconductors, displays, and solar applications. The company provides deposition, etch, and inspection tools essential for chip fabrication. In recent market activity, AMAT shares have surged, with year-to-date returns around 70% and over 180% in the past year, significantly outperforming the S&P 500. Recent weeks have seen strong gains, including over 10% in the past month and 6% in a single session, fueled by robust demand for AI-related equipment and analyst upgrades with price targets up to $517. Sentiment has been bolstered by the company's broad exposure beyond core semis, though trade tensions with China pose risks given regional revenue reliance. Volatility remains elevated, with a beta around 1.64 (measuring market-relative volatility).
LRCX Overview and Recent Performance
Lam Research (LRCX) specializes in wafer fabrication equipment, particularly etch, deposition, and clean processes critical for advanced logic and memory chips used in AI applications. Recent performance has been explosive, with year-to-date gains near 72% and past-year returns over 285%, dwarfing broader market benchmarks. In recent weeks, shares advanced over 20% monthly and 2-15% in short-term moves, supported by stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings—revenue of $5.84 billion (up 23.8% year-over-year) and EPS beats—alongside upbeat AI-driven guidance. Positive analyst revisions reflect confidence in NAND/DRAM cycles and high margins around 50%, though higher beta (1.82) signals greater sensitivity to sector swings and China exposure.
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Head-to-Head Comparison
Both AMAT and LRCX thrive in the semiconductor equipment space, but AMAT's broader portfolio spans deposition leadership alongside displays and solar, providing diversification against pure-play semi cycles, while LRCX excels in specialized etch and deposition for AI-critical memory and logic chips. Growth drivers align on AI WFE spending, yet LRCX gains more from memory recovery. Recent momentum favors LRCX with superior one-year returns and earnings beats, versus AMAT's steady gains. Risk factors include cyclical downturns and U.S.-China trade restrictions, amplified for LRCX by higher beta. Sector exposure is concentrated in semis for both, but market sentiment leans toward LRCX for margin strength (nearly 50% gross) amid AI hype, while AMAT trades at a relatively lower P/E (price-to-earnings ratio).
Tickeron AI Verdict
Tickeron’s AI currently favors LRCX over AMAT based on superior trend consistency, explosive one-year performance exceeding 250%, recent earnings catalysts, and stronger positioning in AI memory demand. While AMAT provides valuation appeal and diversification, LRCX's higher margins and momentum suggest higher probabilistic near-term outperformance in semiconductor upcycles.
Disclaimer
The information on this webpage is provided for general informational and educational purposes only and is not intended as investment advice, a recommendation to purchase or sell any security, or an offer or solicitation related to investments. It does not consider your personal financial situation, goals, or risk profile, and all investing carries inherent risks, including the possibility of losing your entire investment. For more details, please review our full disclaimer. Disclaimers and Limitations
To compare these two companies we present long-term analysis, their fundamental ratings and make comparative short-term technical analysis which are presented below. The conclusion is AMAT is a StrongBuy and LRCX is a Buy.
Long-Term Analysis
It is best to consider a long-term outlook for a ticker by using Fundamental Analysis (FA) ratings. The rating of 1 to 100, where 1 is best and 100 is worst, is divided into thirds. The first third (a green rating of 1-33) indicates that the ticker is undervalued; the second third (a grey number between 34 and 66) means that the ticker is valued fairly; and the last third (red number of 67 to 100) reflects that the ticker is undervalued. We use an FA Score to show how many ratings show the ticker to be undervalued (green) or overvalued (red).
AMAT’s FA Score shows that 4 FA rating(s) are green whileLRCX’s FA Score has 4 green FA rating(s).
- AMAT’s FA Score: 4 green, 1 red.
- LRCX’s FA Score: 4 green, 1 red.
Short-Term Analysis
It is best to consider a short-term outlook for a ticker by using Technical Analysis (TA) indicators. We use Odds of Success as the percentage of outcomes which confirm successful trade signals in the past.
If the Odds of Success (the likelihood of the continuation of a trend) for each indicator are greater than 50%, then the generated signal is confirmed. A green percentage from 90% to 51% indicates that the ticker is in a bullish trend. A red percentage from 90% - 51% indicates that the ticker is in a bearish trend. All grey percentages are below 50% and are considered not to confirm the trend signal.
AMAT’s TA Score shows that 4 TA indicator(s) are bullish while LRCX’s TA Score has 4 bullish TA indicator(s).
- AMAT’s TA Score: 4 bullish, 4 bearish.
- LRCX’s TA Score: 4 bullish, 4 bearish.
Price Growth
AMAT (@Electronic Production Equipment) experienced а +25.22% price change this week, while LRCX (@Electronic Production Equipment) price change was +20.95% for the same time period.
The average weekly price growth across all stocks in the @Electronic Production Equipment industry was +17.31%. For the same industry, the average monthly price growth was +9.95%, and the average quarterly price growth was +135.39%.
Reported Earning Dates
AMAT is expected to report earnings on Aug 13, 2026.
LRCX is expected to report earnings on Aug 05, 2026.
Industries' Descriptions
@Electronic Production Equipment (+17.31% weekly)The electronic production equipment industry makes equipment used to produce semiconductors. Such equipment includes wafer fabrication, plasma etching and photo-resist processing equipment. The industry also makes chemical vapor deposition processing systems and photomasks, which are high-purity quartz plates that contain patterns to define integrated circuits layouts. Applied Materials, Inc., Lam Research Corporation, and KLA-Tencor Corporation are examples of electronic production equipment manufacturing companies.
| AMAT | LRCX | AMAT / LRCX | |
| Capitalization | 450B | 459B | 98% |
| EBITDA | 11.1B | 8.07B | 138% |
| Gain YTD | 121.279 | 114.540 | 106% |
| P/E Ratio | 53.36 | 69.34 | 77% |
| Revenue | 29B | 21.7B | 134% |
| Total Cash | 8.24B | 4.75B | 173% |
| Total Debt | 7.27B | 3.73B | 195% |
AMAT | LRCX | ||
|---|---|---|---|
OUTLOOK RATING 1..100 | 43 | 36 | |
VALUATION overvalued / fair valued / undervalued 1..100 | 75 Overvalued | 88 Overvalued | |
PROFIT vs RISK RATING 1..100 | 7 | 2 | |
SMR RATING 1..100 | 24 | 17 | |
PRICE GROWTH RATING 1..100 | 3 | 2 | |
P/E GROWTH RATING 1..100 | 7 | 6 | |
SEASONALITY SCORE 1..100 | 50 | 50 |
Tickeron ratings are formulated such that a rating of 1 designates the most successful stocks in a given industry, while a rating of 100 points to the least successful stocks for that industry.
AMAT's Valuation (75) in the Electronic Production Equipment industry is in the same range as LRCX (88). This means that AMAT’s stock grew similarly to LRCX’s over the last 12 months.
LRCX's Profit vs Risk Rating (2) in the Electronic Production Equipment industry is in the same range as AMAT (7). This means that LRCX’s stock grew similarly to AMAT’s over the last 12 months.
LRCX's SMR Rating (17) in the Electronic Production Equipment industry is in the same range as AMAT (24). This means that LRCX’s stock grew similarly to AMAT’s over the last 12 months.
LRCX's Price Growth Rating (2) in the Electronic Production Equipment industry is in the same range as AMAT (3). This means that LRCX’s stock grew similarly to AMAT’s over the last 12 months.
LRCX's P/E Growth Rating (6) in the Electronic Production Equipment industry is in the same range as AMAT (7). This means that LRCX’s stock grew similarly to AMAT’s over the last 12 months.
| AMAT | LRCX | |
|---|---|---|
| RSI ODDS (%) | 2 days ago 72% | 2 days ago 64% |
| Stochastic ODDS (%) | 2 days ago 71% | 2 days ago 74% |
| Momentum ODDS (%) | 2 days ago 76% | 2 days ago 85% |
| MACD ODDS (%) | 2 days ago 89% | 2 days ago 77% |
| TrendWeek ODDS (%) | 2 days ago 76% | 2 days ago 81% |
| TrendMonth ODDS (%) | 2 days ago 77% | 2 days ago 81% |
| Advances ODDS (%) | 2 days ago 77% | 2 days ago 82% |
| Declines ODDS (%) | 26 days ago 65% | 9 days ago 64% |
| BollingerBands ODDS (%) | 2 days ago 69% | 2 days ago 73% |
| Aroon ODDS (%) | 2 days ago 75% | 2 days ago 81% |
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