Applied Materials Inc /de vs Lam Research (AMAT vs LRCX)
Side by side from their SEC filings: revenue, margins, growth, returns and valuation, plus short interest, insider activity and institutional ownership.
Applied Materials Inc /de is the larger company by revenue ($28.4B vs $23.2B) and market value ($420.8B vs $417.8B). Lam Research has grown revenue faster over the last 4 fiscal years (+34.9% cumulative vs +23.0%). Lam Research runs the higher operating margin (35.3% vs 29.2%). Applied Materials Inc /de trades at the lower trailing P/E (46.8x vs 58.3x).
About Applied Materials Inc /de
Applied Materials Inc designs, develops, manufactures, and services equipment used to produce semiconductor chips. The company operates two main segments: Semiconductor Systems, which provides a comprehensive range of tools for chip fabrication, and Applied Global Services, which offers services, spare parts, and factory automation software to semiconductor fabrication plants. Its customers include manufacturers serving markets such as personal computing, mobile phones, automotive, and industrial applications.
About Lam Research
Lam Research Corporation supplies wafer fabrication equipment and services to the semiconductor industry worldwide. Its products include deposition, etch, and clean systems used to manufacture integrated circuits for devices such as mobile phones, computers, servers, and automotive electronics. The company serves semiconductor memory, foundry, and integrated device manufacturers by providing advanced technologies for nanoscale manufacturing and wafer-level packaging.
Head to head (AMAT FY2025 vs LRCX FY2026)
| Metric | AMATFY2025 | LRCXFY2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $28.37B | $23.23B |
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 4.4% | 26.0% |
| Gross margin | 48.7% | 50.5% |
| Operating margin | 29.2% | 35.3% |
| Net margin | 24.7% | 31.3% |
| Net income | $7.00B | $7.27B |
| Diluted EPS | $8.66 | $5.76 |
| FCF margin | 20.1% | 21.1% |
| ROE | 34.3% | 58.3% |
| Long-term debt / equity | 0.32× | 0.30× |
| Market cap | $420.82B | $417.84B |
| P/E | 46.8× | 58.3× |
Fundamentals are from each company’s SEC filings (AMAT FY2025, LRCX FY2026). ROE is net income over fiscal-year-end equity; long-term debt / equity counts non-current term debt only. P/E and market cap are derived from stored market prices, last retrieved on a rolling basis and typically within the past week.
Five-year trend (as reported)
| AMAT by fiscal year | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $23.06B | $25.79B | $26.52B | $27.18B | $28.37B |
| Net income | $5.89B | $6.53B | $6.86B | $7.18B | $7.00B |
| Operating margin | 29.9% | 30.2% | 28.9% | 28.9% | 29.2% |
| LRCX by fiscal year | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 | FY2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $17.23B | $17.43B | $14.91B | $18.44B | $23.23B |
| Net income | $4.61B | $4.51B | $3.83B | $5.36B | $7.27B |
| Operating margin | 31.2% | 29.7% | 28.6% | 32.0% | 35.3% |
Applied Materials Inc /de and Lam Research use different fiscal calendars (AMAT's FY2025 ended 2025-10-26, LRCX's FY2026 ended 2026-06-28), so their fiscal years are shown separately rather than forced into one timeline.
Peer standing
These companies are ranked against different peer groups (Applied Materials Inc /de vs 88 semiconductor companies; Lam Research vs 625 Technology companies), so each is shown against its own peers rather than on one scale.
Applied Materials Inc /de
Applied Materials Inc /de’s return on equity of 34.3% ranks in the 96th percentile of the 75 semiconductor companies reporting it. Applied Materials Inc /de’s operating margin of 29.2% ranks in the 91st percentile of the 79 semiconductor companies reporting it. Applied Materials Inc /de’s net margin of 24.7% ranks in the 87th percentile of the 80 semiconductor companies reporting it.
Lam Research
Lam Research’s operating margin of 35.3% ranks in the 96th percentile of the 562 Technology companies reporting it. Lam Research’s net margin of 31.3% ranks in the 94th percentile of the 575 Technology companies reporting it. Lam Research’s return on equity of 58.3% ranks in the 94th percentile of the 543 Technology companies reporting it.
Short interest
| FINRA settlement data | AMAT | LRCX |
|---|---|---|
| Shares sold short | 14.1M | 26.1M |
| Change vs prior settlement | -9.7% | -6.0% |
| Days to cover | 2.44 | 3.08 |
| As of settlement | 2026-09-15 | 2026-09-15 |
Source: FINRA Consolidated Short Interest. FINRA is the owner and source of the FINRA-supplied data; republishing or redistributing it is not permitted. Not presented as a percentage of float. No FINRA endorsement of this product is implied.
Insider activity (last 90 days)
| Form 4 activity (codes P/S) | AMAT | LRCX |
|---|---|---|
| Buys | 0 | 0 |
| Sells | 3 ($4.5M) | 8 ($46.6M) |
Non-derivative purchases (code P) and sales (code S) reported on SEC Form 4, which may be open-market or private (grants, exercises and tax withholding excluded). For context, about 15% of covered companies saw any reported insider purchase (code P) in a 90-day window.
Held by the same investors
11 tracked 13F managers hold both Applied Materials Inc /de and Lam Research as of their latest quarterly filings: AQR Capital Management, Altimeter Capital Management, Bridgewater Associates, Citadel Advisors, Coatue Management, D. E. Shaw, Gotham Asset Management, Maverick Capital, Millennium Management, Tiger Global Management, Two Sigma Investments. See which superinvestors hold your own portfolio with the smart money checker.
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Data sourced from SEC EDGAR. Figures are as-reported and may be unaudited or restated; verify against the source filings before relying on them. Comparisons are descriptive (higher or lower on a reported figure), not a rating or a recommendation. Informational only. Not investment advice.