{"id":27557,"date":"2024-08-12T23:56:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-12T15:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/?p=27557"},"modified":"2026-07-25T10:03:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T02:03:15","slug":"lam-research-chip-equipment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/08\/12\/lam-research-chip-equipment\/","title":{"rendered":"How does Lam Research, top chip equipment vendor, make money?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The importance of Lam Research in the semiconductor equipment industry is almost on par with Applied materials (see the my dedicated post of: &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/04\/18\/applied-materials\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">How does Applied Materials, lord of semiconductor equipment, make money?<\/a>&#8220;)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_86 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #ffffff;color:#ffffff\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #ffffff;color:#ffffff\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/08\/12\/lam-research-chip-equipment\/#Company_Profile\" >Company Profile<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/08\/12\/lam-research-chip-equipment\/#Founding_of_the_company\" >Founding of the company<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/08\/12\/lam-research-chip-equipment\/#Main_business\" >Main business<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/08\/12\/lam-research-chip-equipment\/#The_Importance_of_Lam_Research\" >The Importance of Lam Research<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/08\/12\/lam-research-chip-equipment\/#IPO\" >IPO<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/08\/12\/lam-research-chip-equipment\/#Tailwind_for_semiconductor_equipments\" >Tailwind for semiconductor equipments<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/08\/12\/lam-research-chip-equipment\/#The_world_is_building_semiconductor_fundry\" >The world is building semiconductor fundry<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/08\/12\/lam-research-chip-equipment\/#AI_drives_chips_demand\" >AI drives chips demand<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/08\/12\/lam-research-chip-equipment\/#Lam_Research_and_the_semiconductor_supply_chain\" >Lam Research and the semiconductor supply chain<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/08\/12\/lam-research-chip-equipment\/#Lam_Research_is_on_par_with_Applied_Materials\" >Lam Research is on par with Applied Materials<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/08\/12\/lam-research-chip-equipment\/#Semiconductor_equipment_supply_chain\" >Semiconductor equipment supply chain<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/08\/12\/lam-research-chip-equipment\/#Lam_Researchs_products\" >Lam Research&#8217;s products<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-13\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/08\/12\/lam-research-chip-equipment\/#Lam_Researchs_expertise\" >Lam Research&#8217;s expertise<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-14\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/08\/12\/lam-research-chip-equipment\/#Lam_Research_Product_Line_and_Features\" >Lam Research Product Line and Features<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-4' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-15\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/08\/12\/lam-research-chip-equipment\/#Thin_film_deposition\" >Thin film deposition<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-16\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/08\/12\/lam-research-chip-equipment\/#Photoresist_strip\" >Photoresist strip<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-17\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/08\/12\/lam-research-chip-equipment\/#Plasma_etch\" >Plasma etch<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-18\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/08\/12\/lam-research-chip-equipment\/#Wafer_cleaning\" >Wafer cleaning<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-19\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/08\/12\/lam-research-chip-equipment\/#Products\" >Products<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-20\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/08\/12\/lam-research-chip-equipment\/#Important_acquisitions\" >Important acquisitions<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-21\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/08\/12\/lam-research-chip-equipment\/#Investors_reward\" >Investors&#8217; reward<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-22\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/08\/12\/lam-research-chip-equipment\/#Stock_split\" >Stock split<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-23\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/08\/12\/lam-research-chip-equipment\/#Stock_repurchase\" >Stock repurchase<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-24\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/08\/12\/lam-research-chip-equipment\/#Main_risks\" >Main risks<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-25\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/08\/12\/lam-research-chip-equipment\/#Chinese_market_dominates_its_revenue\" >Chinese market dominates its revenue<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-26\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/08\/12\/lam-research-chip-equipment\/#US_expands_chip_ban_on_China\" >US expands chip ban on China<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-27\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/08\/12\/lam-research-chip-equipment\/#Loss_of_potential_business_opportunities\" >Loss of potential business opportunities<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-28\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/08\/12\/lam-research-chip-equipment\/#Related_articles\" >Related articles<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Company_Profile\"><\/span>Company Profile<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Founding_of_the_company\"><\/span>Founding of the company<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Lam_Research\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Lam Research<\/a> (ticker: LRCX) was founded in 1980 by David K. Lam, a Chinese scientist and entrepreneur who was born in Saigon, Guangdong and grew up there. It is headquartered in Fremont, California. The company&#8217;s name &#8220;Lam&#8221; means the surname of overseas Chinese in Vietnam, Lin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As of 2023, it is the third-largest manufacturer in the Bay Area, behind Tesla (ticker: TSLA) and Intuitive Surgical (ticker ISRG).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Main_business\"><\/span>Main business<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>is a U.S. supplier of wafer manufacturing equipment and related services to the semiconductor industry. The products are primarily used in front-end wafer processing, which involves the steps of creating the active components (transistors, capacitors) of semiconductor devices and their wiring (interconnects). The company also manufactures related equipment for back-end wafer-level packaging (WLP) and micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Importance_of_Lam_Research\"><\/span>The Importance of Lam Research<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In terms of supplying equipment for semiconductor factory production, Lam Research is on par with Applied Materials. The two hold the core equipment for the production of all semiconductor factories in the world. Without equipment from either of them, semiconductor factories would be almost unable to produce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"IPO\"><\/span>IPO<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In May 1984, Lam Research was listed on the Nasdaq.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Tailwind_for_semiconductor_equipments\"><\/span>Tailwind for semiconductor equipments<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_world_is_building_semiconductor_fundry\"><\/span>The world is building semiconductor fundry<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Chip manufacturers continue to wait Chip manufacturers continue to wait Chip manufacturers continue to wait Chip manufacturers continue to expand the production capacity of artificial intelligence chips based on 5 nanometer and more advanced processes, and TSMC&#8217;s large chip manufacturing plants in the United States, Japan and Germany.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They are expected to It will be gradually completed starting in 2024 and Intel will build a new large-scale chip factory in the United States and purchase high-end semiconductor equipment such as photolithography machines, etching equipment, and thin film deposition required for core manufacturing in large quantities. These semiconductor equipment suppliers mainly include top equipment manufacturers in the chip industry chain such as ASML, Applied Materials, Tokyo Electron and BE Semiconductor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"AI_drives_chips_demand\"><\/span>AI drives chips demand<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The current global demand for artificial intelligence chips is extremely strong, and this explosive demand is expected to continue until 2025. Therefore, chip manufacturers such as TSMC, Samsung, and Intel will fully expand their production capacity, and storage giants such as SK Hynix and Micron will expand the production capacity of HBM. , both require large quantities of semiconductor equipment required for chip manufacturing and advanced packaging, and even some core equipment needs to be updated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After all, artificial intelligence chips have higher logic density, more complex circuit designs, and higher power and accuracy requirements for equipment, which may lead to problems in photolithography, etching, thin film deposition, multi-layer interconnection, and thermal management. Higher technical requirements require customized manufacturing and testing equipment to meet these requirements. Therefore, semiconductor equipment giants such as ASML, Applied Materials, and Lam Research can be said to hold the &#8220;lifeblood of chip manufacturing.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Lam_Research_and_the_semiconductor_supply_chain\"><\/span>Lam Research and the semiconductor supply chain<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Lam_Research_is_on_par_with_Applied_Materials\"><\/span>Lam Research is on par with Applied Materials<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Semiconductor equipment giants such as ASML, Applied Materials, and Lam Research can be said to hold the &#8220;lifeblood of chip manufacturing.&#8221; In the chip factory, Lam Research and Applied Materials are everywhere. Please see my post of &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/07\/08\/semiconductor-equipment\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Top five semiconductor equipment providers<\/a>&#8221; as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unlike ASML, which has always focused on the field of photolithography, the high-end equipment provided by Lam Research and Applied Materials plays the most critical role in almost every step of manufacturing wafers, playing an important role in the production of semiconductor factories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Semiconductor_equipment_supply_chain\"><\/span>Semiconductor equipment supply chain<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Because in the capital expenditure of advanced semiconductor processes, front-end process equipment accounts for as high as 80~90%, mainly provided by the five major equipment suppliers. In addition to Applied Materials, there are also ASML (ticker: ASML) , Lam Research (ticker: LRCX), Tokyo Electron (ticker: TOELY), KLA Corp (ticker: KLA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These five major semiconductor equipment manufacturers occupy more than 70% of the global semiconductor device manufacturing industry with their leading technology and strong financial support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Due to the technology gap, local manufacturers in Taiwan have less focus on front-end process equipment. The main entry points are all low-end area like outsourcing, factory engineering, back-end process equipment, component maintenance and access, etc. Related supply chains such as Foxsemicon Integrated, MicB2B, Feedback Technology, CalTech and GongIn etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For a complete description of the semiconductor equipment supply chain, please see:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Another of my previous articles, &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2021\/09\/25\/the-lucrative-semiconductor-industry\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The lucrative semiconductor supply chain<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A dedicated introduction to Section 3-2 of my book &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.books.com.tw\/products\/0010935641\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Rules of 10 Baggers<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Lam_Researchs_products\"><\/span>Lam Research&#8217;s products<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Lam_Researchs_expertise\"><\/span>Lam Research&#8217;s expertise<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Lam Research designs and manufactures products for semiconductor manufacturing, including equipment for thin film deposition, plasma etching, photoresist stripping and wafer cleaning processes. Throughout the semiconductor manufacturing process, these technologies help create transistors, interconnects, advanced memory and packaging structures. They are also used in applications in related markets such as microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and light-emitting diodes (LEDs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Lam_Research_Product_Line_and_Features\"><\/span>Lam Research Product Line and Features<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Its products mainly cover the following core aspects of important chip manufacturing:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Thin_film_deposition\"><\/span>Thin film deposition<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Thin film deposition systems deposit submicroscopic layers of conducting (metallic) or insulating (dielectric) materials that make up integrated circuits, a process involving nanometer-scale uniformity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lam Research uses electrochemical deposition (ECD) and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) techniques to form copper and other metal films for conductive structures, and atomic layer deposition (ALD) is also used for tungsten metal films in features such as contacts and plugs. .<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Photoresist_strip\"><\/span>Photoresist strip<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Lam Research&#8217;s dry stripping systems use plasma technology to selectively remove photoresist masks as programmed following a range of front-end wafer processing and advanced packaging applications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Plasma_etch\"><\/span>Plasma etch<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Lam Research uses proprietary technology in its plasma etching equipment to selectively remove material from the surface of a wafer in a programmed process to create features and patterns on the wafer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Wafer_cleaning\"><\/span>Wafer cleaning<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Lam Research&#8217;s wet spin cleaning and plasma-based bevel cleaning products remove particles, residues and films from wafer surfaces before or after adjacent processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Products\"><\/span>Products<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1981, Lam Research introduced his first product, the AutoEtch 480, an automated polycrystalline silicon plasma etcher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Important_acquisitions\"><\/span>Important acquisitions<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In March 1997, Lam Research acquired OnTrak Systems, a wafer equipment manufacturer specializing in chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) cleaning, for $225 million. CMP cleaning is a hybrid process that uses etching and mechanical polishing to smooth surfaces.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In 2006, Lam Research acquired Bullen Semiconductor, now Silfex.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In 2011, Lam Research agreed to acquire Novellus Systems, a San Jose, Calif., chip equipment manufacturer for $3.3 billion.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In October 2015, Lam Research announced plans to acquire wafer inspection equipment supplier KLA-Tencor for US$10.6 billion. This move was regarded as a major consolidation measure in the semiconductor industry. But in October 2016, Lam Research announced the termination of the acquisition offer because of concerns that the transaction would not receive regulatory approval from the U.S. Department of Justice due to antitrust issues.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In September 2017, Lam Research announced the acquisition of Coventor, a chip simulation company headquartered in Cary, North Carolina. The company&#8217;s software will reportedly allow Lin to shorten the time to market for his new chips.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In November 2022, Lam Research announced the acquisition of Salzburg-based supplier of wet processing semiconductor equipment Semsysco GmbH.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In November 2022, Lam Research acquired ion simulation company Esgee Technologies.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Investors_reward\"><\/span>Investors&#8217; reward<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Stock_split\"><\/span>Stock split<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>On May 21, 2024, it announced a stock repurchase authorization of up to $10 billion, saying it was consistent with the company&#8217;s &#8220;plan to return 75% to up to 100% of free cash to shareholders through dividends and repurchases.&#8221; painting&#8221;. In addition, Lam Research is conducting a forward stock split of its issued ordinary shares at a &#8220;1-for-10&#8221; stock split, which is expected to take effect after the market close on October 2, 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Stock_repurchase\"><\/span>Stock repurchase<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>On May 21, 2024, Lam Research also announced the latest repurchase authorization. The semiconductor equipment giant plans to repurchase up to $10 billion of common shares. The authorization has no expiration date and can be suspended or terminated at any time. Lam Research  said the repurchase program fully replenishes any remaining balances previously authorized by Lam Research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Main_risks\"><\/span>Main risks<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Chinese_market_dominates_its_revenue\"><\/span>Chinese market dominates its revenue<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Nikkei Asia&#8221; reported that Lam Research&#8217;s sales from January to March this year came from China, with 42% of its sales coming from China, an annual growth of 20 percentage points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"US_expands_chip_ban_on_China\"><\/span>US expands chip ban on China<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In October 2022, the Biden administration&#8217;s chip ban on mainland China set off a storm in the semiconductor equipment industry. After the U.S. government announced the expansion of its ban on Chinese chips, U.S. suppliers such as Applied Materials, KLA and Lam Research were severely affected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Take YMTC (Yangtze Memory) as an example<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These American suppliers have begun to evacuate their employees stationed in Jiangjiang Storage and suspended their operations in China. Applied Materials, KLA and Lam Research have suspended equipment installation support for YMTC (Yangtze Memory) and have begun to evacuate their employees from YMTC (Yangtze Memory).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Reuters revealed that several U.S. semiconductor equipment suppliers have received letters from the legal department and must immediately stop supplying some products to customers operating in China, including NAND wafers with 128 layers or above, 18 nanometers and more advanced. DRAM chips and high-end logic chips, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Loss_of_potential_business_opportunities\"><\/span>Loss of potential business opportunities<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Since China accounts for 30% of Lam Research&#8217;s revenue, Lam Research said the company&#8217;s annual revenue will be reduced by US$2 billion to US$2.5 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"200\" height=\"68\" src=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/06\/lrx-Custom.jpg\" alt=\"Lam Research\" class=\"wp-image-27559\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">credit: Wiki<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Related_articles\"><\/span>Related articles<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2026\/07\/24\/teradyne-semi-ate-leader\/\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2026\/07\/24\/teradyne-semi-ate-leader\/\">Teradyne, semiconductor back-end automated test equipment leader<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2026\/06\/28\/how-klac-makes-money\/\">How KLAC makes money, the largest equipment supplier for chip quality control<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2025\/07\/08\/astera-labs-make-money\/\">How Astera Labs, AI high-speed transmission expert, make money? <\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/08\/12\/lam-research-chip-equipment\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">How does Lam Research, top chip equipment player, make money?<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2025\/02\/18\/camtek-equipment\/\">Camtek: A little-known but outstanding semiconductor equipment supplier&#8221;<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2025\/02\/16\/why-was-asml-founded\/\">Why was ASML founded?<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/09\/28\/how-does-onto-make-money\/\">How does Onto make money? 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href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2022\/10\/01\/how-many-fab-does-tsmc-have\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">How many fabs and houses does TSMC have currently and in the future?<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2022\/05\/13\/yield-rate-comparison\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Yield rate comparison of SMIC, Rapidus, TSMC, Samsung, Intel&#8217;s advanced process<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2023\/04\/29\/cost-of-chip-foundry\/\">The TSMC cost, sell price, and R&amp;D cost of chip foundry<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2022\/01\/15\/asml-who-really-caught-tsmcs-neck\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ASML, who dominate TSMC\u2019s fate<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2021\/12\/28\/tsmc-process-roadmap\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Comparison of SMIC, Rapidus, TSMC, Intel, and Samsung\u2019s new process roadmaps for future chips<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2021\/07\/30\/two-long-term-threats-to-tsmc\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Two long-term threats to TSMC: US and SMIC<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2022\/06\/30\/tsmcs-profit-margin\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Why is TSMC\u2019s profit margin much greater than competitors?<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2022\/08\/13\/how-does-tsmc-make-money\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">How does TSMC make money?<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2022\/11\/02\/zyvex\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Zyvex and sub-nanometer semiconductor 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Absolute Leader in Artificial Intelligence, Data Center, and Graphics<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/05\/25\/will-intel-go-bankrupt\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Will Intel go bankrupt?<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2021\/10\/30\/how-does-intel-make-money-and-the-benefits-to-invest-in-it\/\">How does Intel make money? and the benefits to invest in it<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2021\/11\/05\/intels-current-difficult-dilemma\/\">Intel&#8217;s current difficult dilemma<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/08\/25\/how-does-micron-make-money\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">How does Micron make money? 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I am not responsible for the correctness, opinions, and immediacy of the content and information of the article. Readers must make their own judgments.<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>I shall not be liable for any damages or other legal liabilities for the direct or indirect losses caused by the readers&#8217; direct or indirect reliance on and reference to the information on this site, or all the responsibilities arising therefrom, as a result of any investment behavior.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In terms of supplying equipment for semiconductor factory production, Lam Research is on par with Applied Materials. The two hold the core equipment for the production of all semiconductor factories in the world. Without equipment from either of them, semiconductor factories would be almost unable to produce.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27559,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[110],"tags":[412,64,182,1241,414,696,100],"class_list":["post-27557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-semiconductor","tag-amat","tag-asml","tag-isrg","tag-kla","tag-lrcx","tag-toely","tag-tsla"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27557"}],"version-history":[{"count":38,"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27557\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43151,"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27557\/revisions\/43151"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}