Lam Research Corporation
LRCX
reported first-quarter fiscal 2022 non-GAAP earnings of $8.36 per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.8%. The figure increased 47.4% year over year.
Revenues improved 35.5% year over year to $4.304 billion.
However, the figure lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.305 billion.
Year-over-year revenue growth was driven by well-performing systems and the customer support business.
In the reported quarter, the company witnessed strong momentum across 3D NAND manufacturers for critical applications. Its foundry and logic segment performed well, owing to the growing traction among etch and deposition technologies. Moreover, strong wins for conductor etch and selective etch applications were positives. All these drove growth in the company’s system revenues, which were $2.9 billion (68% of total revenues), up 36.2% from the year-ago quarter.
Solid semiconductor demand across automotive, healthcare and security sectors along with high fab utilization drove top-line growth for the company’s Customer Support Business Group. Further, robust Reliant business contributed well. Customer support-related revenues and others for the reported quarter were $1.4 billion (32%), up 34.1% year over year.
For 2021, WFE spending is estimated to be in the mid-$80 billion, driven by strength across NAND, DRAM, and Foundry and Logic.
Increasing device and manufacturing complexity along with the rising semiconductor demand remains a tailwind.
Lam Research Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Lam Research Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart
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Lam Research Corporation Quote
Regions in Detail
China, Korea and Taiwan accounted for 37%, 21% and 15% of the company’s total fiscal first-quarter revenues, respectively. Then again, Japan, Southeast Asia, the United States and Europe accounted for 11%, 8%, 6% and 2%, respectively.
Operating Details
The non-GAAP gross margin was 46%, which contracted 150 basis points (bps) year over year.
Non-GAAP operating expenses were $586.5 million, reflecting an increase of 12.1% from the prior-year quarter. However, as a percentage of revenues, the figure contracted 290 bps year over year to 13.6%.
The non-GAAP operating margin was 32.4%, expanding 130 bps from the year-ago quarter.
Balance Sheet & Cash Flow
As of Sep 26, 2021, cash and cash equivalents as well as short-term investments decreased to $4.6 billion from $5.7 billion as of Jun 27, 2021.
Cash flow from operating activities was $457.5 million in the reported quarter, down from $1.4 billion in the previous quarter. Capital expenditure was $136.4 million in the fiscal first-quarter 2022, up from $105 million in the fiscal fourth-quarter 2021.
In the reported quarter, Lam Research paid out dividends of $185.4 million and repurchased shares worth $1.2 billion.
Guidance
For second-quarter fiscal 2022, the company expects revenues of $4.4 billion (+/- $250 million). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the same is pegged at $4.4 billion.
The non-GAAP gross margin is projected at 46% (+/-1%) and the non-GAAP operating margin is expected to be 32% (+/-1%).
Non-GAAP earnings are projected at $8.45 (+/- 50 cents) per share on a share count of 142 million. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for non-GAAP earnings per share is pegged at $8.36.
Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider
Currently, Lam Research carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked stocks in the broader technology sector are
Alphabet Inc.
GOOGL
,
Coupa Software, Inc.
COUP
and
Trimble Inc.
TRMB
. All three companies currently carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see
the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
The long-term earnings growth rates of Alphabet, Coupa Software and Trimble are pegged at 14.75%, 24.28% and 10%, respectively.
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