Lam Research reported record quarterly revenue of $8.22B, up 54% from a year earlier, for the quarter ended Sept. 27, 2026.
Adjusted earnings came in at $2.20 per share, ahead of the $2.18 analysts expected. The chip-equipment maker's operating margin crossed 40% for the first time in company history, at 40.2%.
Lam Research Q3 CY2026 results vs. estimates (as of Oct. 22, 2026)
Gross margin 52.4% (record); operating margin 40.2%. Units: USD.
| Metric | Reported | Analyst estimate |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $8.22B | $8.18B |
| Adjusted EPS | $2.20 | $2.18 |
| Adjusted operating income | $3.30B | $3.21B |
| Next-quarter revenue guidance | $8.6B (midpoint) | $8.57B |
| Next-quarter EPS guidance | $2.33 (midpoint) | $2.33 |
Lam makes the deposition and etch machines that carve and layer the microscopic structures inside chips. Artificial intelligence demand is pushing memory and foundry customers to buy more of them.
Gross margin hit a record 52.4%, up from 52% in the June quarter. Free cash flow reached a record $3.24B, and the company returned roughly $1B through buybacks plus $325M in dividends.
Memory drove the quarter, with memory systems revenue up 120% year-over-year to 46% of systems revenue. Foundry matched that share at 46%, also a record.
China was 35% of revenue and is heading lower
China made up 35% of revenue in the quarter, up from 26% in June, with Korea at 20% and Taiwan at 18%. Management expects China to drop meaningfully in the December quarter, driven by domestic customers.
Lam guided December revenue to $8.6B at the midpoint, plus or minus $400M, with adjusted EPS of $2.33. Both land roughly where analysts were modeling.
Chief Financial Officer Doug Bettinger said the revenue outlook would have been a bit higher without near-term component shortages, with some shipments slipping into the March quarter.
The 2027 setup depends on cleanrooms and suppliers
Lam's preliminary outlook puts 2027 wafer fabrication equipment spending above $200B, led by DRAM, foundry and logic, and NAND. Bettinger pointed to 10 new Tier 1 fabs coming online across 2027, with cleanroom availability and component supply as the swing factors.
The customer support business posted its fourth straight record quarter at nearly $2.5B, up 40% year-over-year. Lam expects that segment to grow above 30% in calendar 2026 and over 15% in 2027.
"Rising deposition and etch intensity across all device types... is continuing to drive greater opportunity for Lam."
Tim Archer, Lam Research
Advanced packaging is the other lever, with growth of ~70% reaffirmed for calendar 2026 and panel-level packaging expected to eventually outgrow Lam's wafer-level business. Dry resist revenue guidance rose by $1B to roughly $2.5B by the end of the decade.
Headcount climbed by roughly 1.9K to about 24.3K as Lam builds capacity for a demand cycle management says it can see through 2028. The company plans to sharpen its 2027 spending forecast on the January call.
