Jul. 29, 2018 – Lam Research (LRCX) reported a great June quarter coming in at $3.126B in revenues and $5.31 in EPS easily beating the street's $3.06B and EPS of $4.94. However no one will care as guidance for the September quarter is for $2.3B in revs and EPS of $3.20, way, well below the already downward revised estimates of $2.77B and $3.88.
As we had suggested in our preview notes, most analysts had underestimated the extent of the down turn in business. Guidance is well below even the lowest estimate on the street of $2.55B in revs and EPS of $3.53. We had projected a 25% decline which is exactly what management is guiding to.
At this point our thoughts turn to how long the down cycle will last and how much further down it will go?