What Happened?
A number of stocks jumped in the afternoon session as semiconductor stocks rallied in response to the de-escalation of the U.S.-Iran conflict.
The sector rallied specifically because semiconductors were highly vulnerable to the supply chain disruptions that occurred during the war. The reopening of the Strait of Hormuz is a critical victory for the industry, as the waterway is essential for the transit of noble gases and materials used in chip fabrication.
The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks.
Among others, the following stocks were impacted:
- Semiconductor Manufacturing company Lam Research (NASDAQ: LRCX) jumped 9.4%. Is now the time to buy Lam Research? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Semiconductor Manufacturing company Photronics (NASDAQ: PLAB) jumped 7.8%. Is now the time to buy Photronics? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
Zooming In On Lam Research (LRCX)
Lam Research’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 30 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 8 days ago when the stock gained 2.7% on the news that Nvidia announced a strategic partnership and a $2 billion investment in fellow chipmaker Marvell Technology.
Following the news, Marvell's stock surged 6.9%, while Nvidia's shares also climbed, providing a lift to the broader semiconductor sector. The collaboration aims to connect Marvell to NVIDIA's AI ecosystem through its NVLink Fusion technology, giving customers more flexibility in developing advanced infrastructure. This significant investment by the AI chip leader stressed the continued rapid expansion and high-stakes competition within the artificial intelligence hardware industry, boosting investor confidence across the sector.
Lam Research is up 32.3% since the beginning of the year, and at $244.79 per share, it is trading close to its 52-week high of $249.48 from February 2026. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Lam Research’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $3,664.
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