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As the political season heats up, with the November presidential elections inching closer, the market moves of the D.C. world's movers and shakers are also grabbing the limelight. One politician who just loaded the boat on semiconductor stocks is the Republican representative from Georgia, Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Greene has been dabbling quite actively in the market in recent months, with the outspoken House representative for Georgia's 14th congressional district showing a particular preference for tech stocks. In her most recent bout of buying, the purchase of three chip stocks stands out.
First up is ASML (ASML), which suddenly has echoes of MTG's CrowdStrike (CRWD) investment earlier this year. Greene bought shares of CRWD in late June, weeks before the global IT outage that sent the stock reeling - and now, she's picked up shares of ASML right before the Dutch chip giant sparked an industry-wide sell-off with the early release of its disappointing Q3 earnings report. ASML spiraled to a loss of 16% on Tuesday, putting Greene firmly in the red on her position.
However, for investors looking to scoop up quality chip stocks on the dip, this selling could present a prime buying opportunity. With that in mind, here's a look at the two other semiconductor stocks this Beltway insider just snagged.
#1. Lam Research
On Oct. 4, Greene disclosed the purchase of up to $15K worth of Lam Research Corp (LRCX). Founded in 1980 by David Lam, Lam Research has grown to become a leading supplier of semiconductor manufacturing equipment. Lam Research is known for its innovative wafer fabrication systems used in the production of advanced microchips.
Valued at a market cap of $11.2 billion, LRCX stock is down 2.5% on a YTD basis. The stock also offers a dividend yield of 1.07%, backed by nine years of consistent dividend growth.
LRCX isn't due to report its Q3 results until next week, on Oct. 23. Over the last 10 years, Lam has grown its revenue and earnings at CAGRs of 12.46% and 19.73%, respectively.
In the fiscal fourth quarter, both revenue and earnings surpassed Wall Street's estimates. Lam's revenues came in at about $3.9 billion, up 20.7% from the prior year. Earnings increased by 36.1% to $0.81 per share, comfortably outpacing the consensus estimate of $0.76. This marked the ninth consecutive quarterly earnings beat for Lam.
The company also generated significant net cash from operating activities of $862.4 million, with the overall cash balance at the end of Q2 at $5.9 billion.
Lam's expertise in low-power DRAM and NAND storage for enterprise PCs and smartphones aligns well with the growing demand in AI-driven data centers and edge computing devices. Its dominance in memory technology, particularly in etch, deposition systems, and wafer fabrication, makes Lam a critical player in the semiconductor supply chain, and should allow the company to outpace the market as chip demand rises in sectors such as automotive and industrial technology.
Additionally, Lam’s competitive edge is strengthened by its installed base of over 75,000 systems. This large base creates a "stickiness" with customers, as switching to competitors' equipment is costly and complex. This advantage drives recurring revenue through service agreements and upgrades, reinforcing Lam’s market position, while its diversified portfolio helps mitigate the cyclical risks of the semiconductor industry.
Analysts have assigned the stock a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy,” with a mean target price of $102.19. This denotes an upside potential of about 33.8% from current levels. Out of 27 analysts covering LRCX, 16 have a “Strong Buy” rating, 2 have a “Moderate Buy” rating, and 9 have a “Hold” rating.
#2. Applied Materials
On Oct. 8, Greene snagged up to $15k of Applied Materials (AMAT). Founded in 1967, Applied Materials has grown to become one of the world's largest suppliers of semiconductor manufacturing equipment. Applied Materials provides a wide range of equipment and services used in the fabrication of integrated circuits.
Valued at a market cap of $177 billion, AMAT stock is up 17.8% on a YTD basis, and offers a dividend yield of 0.75%. The company has been raising dividends consistently for each of the past six years, backed by a modest payout ratio of just 17.02%.
Over the last 10 years, AMAT has clocked revenue and earnings growth at CAGRs of 11.81% and 22.25%, respectively. The company isn't due to report quarterly earnings again until Nov. 21.
In its results for the most recent quarter, Applied Materials beat analysts' estimates on both revenue and earnings. Revenues for the fiscal third quarter came in at $6.78 billion, up 5% yearly. The key semiconductor systems segment, which made up close to 73% of the total revenues, rose by 5.3% from the prior year. Notably, EPS rose by 12% to $2.12, coming in ahead of the consensus estimate of $2.03. This marked AMAT's ninth consecutive quarterly earnings beat.
Cash from operating activities for the quarter stood at a sizeable $2.4 billion, as AMAT closed the quarter with a cash balance of $8.3 billion.
Applied Materials' focus on AI-driven demand, especially in key semiconductor systems, has offered them incredible opportunities amid the accelerating demand for AI infrastructure. Their enhanced memory architecture, particularly the integration of stronger DRAM chips, will ensure that data can be processed quickly and far more efficiently - which is especially important for the inference era of machine learning, where the model applies what it has learned to new data. Stronger DRAM technology allows for smoother handling of massive datasets to boost the chip’s performance.
Talking about the development of more energy-efficient chips, CEO Gary Dickerson said, “The need for more energy-efficient compute is driving major device architecture inflections within the semiconductor roadmap that are enabled by materials engineering and Applied Materials' innovations. This expands our served market and is accretive to our share, and the increasingly complex industry roadmap creates new collaboration and growth opportunities for Applied, enabled by our broad, unique and connected portfolio of capabilities, products and services.”
AMAT's expertise in materials science also makes it a leader in cutting-edge logic, especially as the semiconductor industry shifts from FinFET transistors to gate-all-around (GAA) transistors. As this transition unfolds, the company anticipates the available market for the transistor module could expand from $6 billion to $7 billion per 100K wafer starts per month, reflecting a 16.7% increase in the total addressable market. Applied Materials expects to secure more than 50% of the spending on equipment for these fabrication steps, reinforcing its leadership in the process equipment space.
Analysts are optimistic about the chip stock, which has an average rating of “Moderate Buy,” with a mean target price of $234.49. This denotes an upside potential of roughly 22.7% from current levels. Out of 33 analysts covering the stock, 20 have a “Strong Buy” rating, 2 have a “Moderate Buy” rating and 11 have a “Hold” rating.
