u/GoodFortune67

Lam Research (LRCX) makes etch and deposition equipment - the tools that physically carve and layer the nanoscale patterns on silicon wafers. Without Lam's machines, TSMC can't build chips for Nvidia, Apple, etc.

They own about half the global etch market and that's not a position you lose easily. Switching semiconductor equipment vendors mid-production is basically unheard of.

The fundamentals are rock solid, but what stands out to me is the hiring data. They have roughly 1,200 open positions right now, and that number is up 50% from a year ago. That points to a company ready to grow!

Other signals backing it up:

- 85% positive employee business outlook (up 10.4% YoY)

- Headcount, according to LinkedIn, is up 11.7% YoY

- StockTwits subscribers up 13%, sentiment very bullish. Just a question on when it hits Reddit too.

And yes, the financials are rock solid. $20.6B TTM revenue (up 27%), 30% net margins, $6.2B free cash flow, net cash on the balance sheet. Ten consecutive quarters of revenue growth.

Upcoming catalysts: earnings this week, $135-140B WFE spending cycle, Musk's Terafab reaching out for equipment quotes, potential $16B acquisition of BE Semiconductor.

Main concern is valuation at 54x forward and the China exposure (43% of revenue) with export controls tightening. Not a cheap stock by any measure.

But I'd rather own the picks-and-shovels play in AI than try to guess which chipmaker wins. What's your take — is LRCX on your radar? More room to grow?

Atlassian, Asana, and Figma are all down big, but AI-driven traffic to these companies jumped sharply in the last month!

That begs the question: If AI is supposed to be killing SaaS, why are some of these beaten-down software names getting discovered more through AI at the same time?

Maybe this is just noise. Maybe it is one more dead-cat bounce setup. But it is also possible the market has gotten so focused on the SaaS apocalypse trade that it is missing where attention is heading.

TEAM and ASAN feel especially interesting here. FIG is more complicated after the Claude Design news, but that also makes it one of the most interesting names to watch.

Curious whether people here see these as traps, or the kind of ugly setups that can turn into real opportunities. You buying any of these names now?

GameStop was one of the most talked-about stocks on Reddit last week, coming in at #2 overall, and the tone around the stock stayed firmly bullish.

A big reason for the renewed attention is that GameStop rolled out something that looks like a genuinely interesting strategic expansion. The company recently launched Power Packs, a platform where collectors can buy digital packs that unlock real PSA-graded trading cards. Those cards stay in the PSA Vault, giving users the option to sell instantly, ship them home, or keep building their collection.

It is still early, but the reaction on this subreddit and others has been positive, and the stock gained 5% last week. For a stock that is often discussed purely as a meme trade, this gives all bulls something more tangible to point to. :)