Lam Research Corporation (LRCX) vs NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA)

Lam Research Corp is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of semiconductor wafer fabrication equipment. The company specializes in deposition and etch technologies, which involve building layers on a semiconductor wafer and selectively removing patterns from each layer. Lam holds the leading market share in etch and ranks a clear second in deposition. It has greater exposure to memory chipmakers, particularly in DRAM and NAND. Its major customers include some of the world’s largest semiconductor companies, such as TSMC, Samsung, Intel, and Micron.

NVIDIA is a leading designer of graphics processing units (GPUs). Historically, GPUs were used to improve performance and user experience across computing platforms, especially in PC gaming. Over time, GPUs have become essential semiconductors for artificial intelligence, powering large language models and other advanced AI workloads. In addition to AI-focused GPUs, NVIDIA provides its CUDA software platform, which supports AI model development and training. The company is also expanding its data center networking solutions, helping connect GPUs to manage increasingly complex workloads.