Morgan Stanley is popping bearish on Lam Research . The financial institution downgraded the semiconductor inventory to underweight ranking from equal weight. Analyst Shane Brett accompanied the transfer by chopping his value goal to $92 from $94, signaling 8% draw back from Friday’s shut. While Lam Research outperformed in 2024 and 2025, Brett does not anticipate this development to maintain into subsequent 12 months. One of the corporate’s largest development drivers was its outperformance in the China market, however Brett believes that additional share acquire appears “tough” from right here. LRCX YTD mountain LRCX YTD chart “We don’t think there is anything fundamentally wrong with LAM; it’s just hard to see LAM outgrowing WFE [water fab equipment market] in 2026, and expect relative share performance to lag as a result,” Brett wrote. “Despite our appreciation for LAM’s NAND story (25pt share gain over the last decade), end-markets just aren’t robust enough to drive further growth for LAM and NAND WFE. We expect growth to decelerate from 82% in 2025 to 3% in 2026.” Ultimately, the analyst expects a “challenging 2026 setup” to weigh shares of Lam Research down, making the inventory a “relatively under performer” amongst different U.S. giant caps. Shares of Lam Research have surged 29% this 12 months. However, the inventory misplaced 4% in the premarket following the downgrade.