As the Q1 earnings season wraps, let’s dig into this quarter’s best and worst performers in the semiconductor manufacturing industry, including Lam Research (NASDAQ: LRCX) and its peers.

The semiconductor industry is driven by demand for advanced electronic products like smartphones, PCs, servers, and data storage. The need for technologies like artificial intelligence, 5G networks, and smart cars is also creating the next wave of growth for the industry. Keeping up with this dynamism requires new tools that can design, fabricate, and test chips at ever smaller sizes and more complex architectures, creating a dire need for semiconductor capital manufacturing equipment.

The 14 semiconductor manufacturing stocks we track reported a mixed Q1. As a group, revenues missed analysts’ consensus estimates by 0.7% while next quarter’s revenue guidance was 2.9% below.

Luckily, semiconductor manufacturing stocks have performed well with share prices up 21% on average since the latest earnings results.

Lam Research (NASDAQ: LRCX)

Founded in 1980 by David Lam, the man who pioneered semiconductor etching technology, Lam Research (NASDAQ: LRCX) is one of the leading providers of wafer fabrication equipment used to make semiconductors.

Lam Research reported revenues of $4.72 billion, up 24.4% year on year. This print exceeded analysts’ expectations by 1.7%. Overall, it was a strong quarter for the company with an impressive beat of analysts’ adjusted operating income estimates and a solid beat of analysts’ EPS estimates.

Interestingly, the stock is up 50.4% since reporting and currently trades at $100.20.

We think Lam Research is a good business, but is it a buy today? Read our full report here, it’s free.

Best Q1: FormFactor (NASDAQ: FORM)

With customers across the foundry and fabless markets, FormFactor (NASDAQ: FORM) is a US-based provider of test and measurement technologies for semiconductors.

FormFactor reported revenues of $171.4 million, up 1.6% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 0.9%. The business had a strong quarter with a solid beat of analysts’ EPS estimates and an impressive beat of analysts’ adjusted operating income estimates.

The market seems happy with the results as the stock is up 25.4% since reporting. It currently trades at $35.20.

Is now the time to buy FormFactor? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.

Weakest Q1: Photronics (NASDAQ: PLAB)

Sporting a global footprint of facilities, Photronics (NASDAQ: PLAB) is a manufacturer of photomasks, templates used to transfer patterns onto semiconductor wafers.

Photronics reported revenues of $211 million, down 2.8% year on year, in line with analysts’ expectations. It was a disappointing quarter as it posted revenue guidance for next quarter missing analysts’ expectations significantly and a significant miss of analysts’ EPS estimates.

As expected, the stock is down 5.4% since the results and currently trades at $19.

Read our full analysis of Photronics’s results here.

Entegris (NASDAQ: ENTG)

With fabs representing the company’s largest customer type, Entegris (NASDAQ: ENTG) supplies products that purify, protect, and generally ensure the integrity of raw materials needed for advanced semiconductor manufacturing.

Entegris reported revenues of $773.2 million, flat year on year. This result missed analysts’ expectations by 2.1%. Overall, it was a disappointing quarter as it also logged a significant miss of analysts’ EPS estimates and an increase in its inventory levels.

The stock is up 2.2% since reporting and currently trades at $84.76.

Read our full, actionable report on Entegris here, it’s free.

Amkor (NASDAQ: AMKR)

Operating through a largely Asian facility footprint, Amkor Technologies (NASDAQ: AMKR) provides outsourced packaging and testing for semiconductors.

Amkor reported revenues of $1.32 billion, down 3.2% year on year. This print surpassed analysts’ expectations by 3%. It was a strong quarter as it also put up an impressive beat of analysts’ adjusted operating income estimates and a solid beat of analysts’ EPS estimates.

Amkor delivered the biggest analyst estimates beat among its peers. The stock is up 25.8% since reporting and currently trades at $21.98.

Read our full, actionable report on Amkor here, it’s free.

Market Update

As a result of the Fed’s rate hikes in 2022 and 2023, inflation has come down from frothy levels post-pandemic. The general rise in the price of goods and services is trending towards the Fed’s 2% goal as of late, which is good news. The higher rates that fought inflation also didn't slow economic activity enough to catalyze a recession. So far, soft landing. This, combined with recent rate cuts (half a percent in September 2024 and a quarter percent in November 2024) have led to strong stock market performance in 2024. The icing on the cake for 2024 returns was Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. Presidential Election in early November, sending major indices to all-time highs in the week following the election. Still, debates around the health of the economy and the impact of potential tariffs and corporate tax cuts remain, leaving much uncertainty around 2025.

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