In addition to the other information in this Annual Report on Form 10-K (“2026 Form 10-K”), the following risk factors should be carefully considered in evaluating us and our business because the occurrence of any of these factors could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition, and price of our Common Stock, and they could cause our actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in any forward-looking statements. Some of the factors, events, and contingencies discussed below may have occurred in the past, but the disclosures below are not representations as to whether or not the factors, events, or contingencies have occurred in the past and instead reflect our beliefs and opinions as to the factors, events, or contingencies that could materially and adversely affect us in the future. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face. Our operations could also be affected by factors, events, or uncertainties that are not presently known to us or that we currently do not consider to present a material risk to us and our business. Therefore, the following discussion of risk factors should not be considered a complete statement of all the potential risks or uncertainties that we face. No priority or significance is intended by, nor should be attached to, the order in which the risk factors appear. Lam Research Corporation 2026 10-K 13 Table of Contents INDUSTRY AND CUSTOMER RISKS We Depend on Creating New Products and Processes and Enhancing Existing Products and Processes for Our Success; Consequently, We Are Subject to Risks Associated with Rapid Technological Change Rapid technological changes in semiconductor manufacturing processes subject us to increased pressure to develop technological advances that enable those processes. We believe that our future success depends in part upon our ability to develop and offer new products with improved capabilities and to continue to enhance our existing products. If new products or existing products have reliability, quality, design, or safety problems, our performance may be impacted by reduced orders, higher manufacturing costs, delays in acceptance of and payment for new products, additional service and warranty expenses, and loss of market share. If we are unable to develop and manufacture products successfully, or the products that we introduce fail in the marketplace, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected. For more than 25 years, the primary driver of technology advancement in the semiconductor industry has been to shrink the lithography that prints the circuit design on semiconductor chips. That driver could be approaching its technological limit, leading semiconductor manufacturers to investigate more complex changes in multiple technologies in an effort to continue technology development. In addition, the emergence of “big data” and new tools such as machine learning and AI that capitalize on the availability of large data sets is leading semiconductor manufacturers and equipment manufacturers to pursue new products and approaches that exploit those tools to advance technology development. In the face of uncertainty on which technology solutions will become successful, we will need to focus our efforts on developing the technology changes that are ultimately successful in supporting our customers’ requirements. Our failure to develop and offer the correct technology solutions in a timely manner with productive and cost-effective products could adversely affect our business in a material way. Our failure to commercialize new products in a timely manner could result in loss of market share, unanticipated costs, and inventory obsolescence, which would adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. In order to develop new products and processes and enhance existing products and processes, we expect to continue to make significant investments in R&D, to investigate the acquisition of products and technologies, to invest in or acquire businesses or technologies, and to pursue joint development relationships with customers, suppliers, or other members of the industry. Our investments and acquisitions may not be as successful as we may expect, particularly in the event that we invest in or acquire product lines and technologies that are new to us. We may find that acquisitions are not available to us, for regulatory or other reasons, and that we must therefore limit ourselves to collaboration and joint venture development activities that do not have the same benefits as acquisitions. Pursuing development through collaboration and/or joint development activities rather than through an acquisition may pose substantial challenges for management, including those related to aligning business objectives; sharing confidential information, intellectual property and data; sharing value with third parties; and realizing synergies that might have been available in an acquisition but are not available through a joint development project. We must manage product transitions and joint development relationships successfully, as the introduction of new products could adversely affect our sales of existing products and certain jointly developed technologies may be subject to restrictions on our ability to share that technology, which could limit our market for products incorporating those technologies. Future technologies, processes, or product developments, including as a result of adoption of AI, may render our current product offerings obsolete, leaving us with non-competitive products, obsolete inventory, or both. Moreover, customers may adopt new technologies or processes to address the complex challenges associated with next-generation devices, or may adopt new technologies, including those based upon AI, that reduce their reliance on us for process development. This shift could reduce the size of our addressable markets, increase the relative size of markets in which we either do not compete or have relatively low market share, or reduce our competitiveness within the markets in which we do compete. We Face a Challenging and Complex Competitive Environment We face significant competition from multiple competitors, and our competitors may be able to develop products comparable or superior to those we offer or may adapt more quickly to new technologies or evolving customer requirements. In particular, while we continue to develop product enhancements that we believe will address future customer requirements, we may fail in a timely manner to identify those future customer requirements, to devote appropriate resources to developing products to address those requirements, or to complete the development or introduction of these additional product enhancements successfully, or these product enhancements may not achieve market acceptance or be competitive. Accordingly, competition may intensify, and we may be unable to continue to compete successfully in our markets, which could have a material adverse effect on our revenues, results of operations, and financial condition. With increased consolidation efforts in our industry, as well as the emergence and strengthening of new, regional competitors and the impact of AI, we may face increasing competitive pressures. Other companies continue to develop systems and/or acquire businesses and products that are competitive to ours and may introduce new products and product capabilities that may affect our ability to sell and support our existing or new products. We face a greater risk if our competitors enter into strategic relationships with leading semiconductor manufacturers covering products addressing applications similar to those we sell or may develop products for, as this could adversely affect our ability to sell products to those manufacturers for those applications. We also face greater risk if our competitors acquire, or otherwise obtain control over, third parties that supply us with key intellectual property, technology, materials, components, software, or other inputs critical to our products and processes, as this could limit or condition our access to these inputs, result in the termination or non‑renewal of licenses or supply arrangements, restrict our ability to use or develop certain technologies, or otherwise disadvantage us relative to our competitors, which could adversely affect our product development, processes, and competitive position. Lam Research Corporation 2026 10-K 14 Table of Contents We believe that to remain competitive we must devote significant financial resources to offer products that meet our customers’ needs, to maintain customer service and support centers worldwide, and to invest in product and process R&D. Technological changes and developing technologies have required, and are expected to continue to require, new and costly investments. Certain of our competitors, including those that are created and financially backed by foreign governments, have substantially greater financial resources and more extensive engineering, manufacturing, marketing, and customer service and support resources than we do and therefore have the potential to offer customers a more comprehensive array of products and/or product capabilities, which enables them to achieve additional relative success in the semiconductor equipment industry. These competitors may deeply discount or give away products similar to those that we sell, challenging or even exceeding our ability to make similar accommodations and threatening our ability to sell those products. We also face competition from our own customers, who in some instances have established affiliated entities that manufacture equipment similar to ours. In addition, we face competition from companies that exist in a more favorable legal or regulatory environment than we do, who are able to sell products for certain applications at certain customers that we are prohibited from selling to under applicable export controls, allowing the freedom of action in ways that we may be unable to match and potentially contributing to the strengthening of such companies’ ability to compete with us. In many cases, speed to solution is necessary for customer satisfaction and our competitors may be better positioned to achieve these objectives. For these reasons, we may fail to continue to compete successfully worldwide. Once a Semiconductor Manufacturer Commits to Purchase a Competitor’s Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment, the Manufacturer Typically Continues to Purchase That Competitor’s Equipment, Making It More Difficult for Us to Sell Our Equipment to That Customer Semiconductor manufacturers must make a substantial investment to qualify and integrate wafer processing equipment into a semiconductor production line. We believe that once a semiconductor manufacturer selects a particular supplier’s processing equipment, the manufacturer generally relies upon that equipment for that specific production line application for an extended period of time, especially for customers that are more focused on tool reuse. Accordingly, we expect it to be more difficult to sell our products to a given customer for a product line application if that customer initially selects a competitor’s equipment for the same product line application. The Semiconductor Capital Equipment Industry Is Subject to Variability and Periods of Rapid Growth or Decline; We Therefore Face Risks Related to Our Strategic Resource Allocation Decisions The semiconductor capital equipment industry has historically been characterized by rapid changes in demand. Variability in our customers’ business plans may lead to changes in demand for our equipment and services, which could negatively impact our results of operations and cash flows. The variability in our customers’ investments during any particular period is dependent on several factors, including, but not limited to, electronics demand, economic conditions (both general and in the semiconductor and electronics industries), industry supply and demand, prices for semiconductors, and our customers’ ability to develop and manufacture increasingly complex and costly semiconductor devices. The changes in demand may require our management to adjust spending and other resources allocated to operating activities, which can be made more challenging due to the multi-year nature of investments made in certain technology programs and other initiatives. During periods of rapid growth or decline in demand for our products and services, we may face significant challenges in maintaining adequate financial and business controls, management processes, information systems, and procedures for training, assimilating, and managing our workforce, and in appropriately sizing our supply chain infrastructure and facilities, work force, and other components of our business on a timely basis. If we do not adequately meet these challenges during periods of increasing or declining demand, our results of operations and financial condition may be negatively impacted. We regularly assess our strategic resource allocation choices in response to the changing business environment. If we do not adequately adapt to the changing business environment, we may lack the infrastructure and resources to scale up our business to meet customer expectations and compete successfully during a period of growth, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, reputation, results of operations, financial condition, and/or our market share, or we may expand our capacity and resources too rapidly and/or beyond what is appropriate for the actual demand environment, which could result in excess fixed costs and have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. For example, the growth of AI technologies and related infrastructure has been and is expected to continue to be a significant driver of capital equipment expenditures by semiconductor manufacturers across both the memory and non-memory market segments and requires us to respond (sometimes rapidly) to changes in demand for our products and services, including by expanding our equipment manufacturing capabilities and hiring additional personnel. If we are unable to effectively scale our business to meet our customers’ requirements in response to AI-driven demand, we may lose market share, and our business, reputation, results of operations, and financial condition could be harmed. During transitional periods, as is the case with the rapid adoption of AI technologies, resource allocation decisions can have a significant impact on our future performance, particularly if we have not accurately anticipated industry changes. Our success will depend, to a significant extent, on the ability of our executive officers and other members of our senior management to identify and respond to these challenges effectively. Future Declines in the Semiconductor Industry, and the Overall World Economic Conditions on Which It Is Significantly Dependent, Could Have a Material Adverse Impact on Our Results of Operations and Financial Condition Our business depends on the capital equipment expenditures of semiconductor manufacturers, which in turn depend on the current and anticipated market demand for integrated circuits. With the consolidation of customers within the industry, the semiconductor Lam Research Corporation 2026 10-K 15 Table of Contents capital equipment market has in the past experienced and may in the future experience rapid changes in demand driven both by changes in the market generally and the plans and requirements of particular customers. The economic, regulatory, political, and business conditions occurring nationally, globally, or in any of our key sales regions, which are often unpredictable, have historically impacted and may in the future impact customer demand for our products and services and normal commercial relationships with our customers, suppliers, and creditors. Additionally, in times of economic uncertainty, our customers’ budgets for our products, or their ability to access credit to purchase them, could be adversely affected. This would limit their ability to purchase our products and services. As a result, changing economic, regulatory, political or business conditions can cause material adverse changes to our results of operations and financial condition, including, but not limited to: •a decline in demand for our products and/or services; •an increase in reserves on accounts receivable due to our customers’ inability to pay us; •an increase in reserves on inventory balances due to excess or obsolete inventory as a result of our inability to sell such inventory; •valuation allowances on deferred tax assets; •restructuring charges; •asset impairments including the potential impairment of goodwill and other intangible assets; •a decline in the value of our investments; •exposure to claims from our suppliers for payment on inventory that is ordered in anticipation of customer purchases that do not come to fruition; and •challenges maintaining reliable and uninterrupted sources of supply. For example, the growth of AI technologies and related infrastructure has been and is expected to continue to be a significant driver of capital equipment expenditures of semiconductor manufacturers across both the memory and non-memory market segments we serve. However, customer decisions regarding the amount and timing of capital expenditures and the demand for our products and services could change rapidly and be impacted by factors outside of our control. These factors may include, without limitation: changes in actual or anticipated AI-driven demand for AI-related infrastructure or compute power to support AI models, tools, and other applications, including due to slower-than-anticipated adoption of AI technologies, increases in compute efficiency, or oversupply of AI-related infrastructure compute power; advances in fabrication processes, technology inflections or changes in technology architectures; new and emerging technologies or market drivers; actual or anticipated production capacity, utilization, and volumes of semiconductor manufacturers relative to demand for semiconductor devices; changes in end-user demand or behavior; the timing of or constraints on increases to AI-related infrastructure or semiconductor manufacturing capacity; the availability and cost of capital, including increases in interest rates or tightening in global capital markets; the availability and amount of government subsidies and incentives; the regulation of AI or related infrastructure technologies by government or other regulatory agencies; and geopolitical or macroeconomic instability, including wars, terrorism, political unrest, public health emergencies, inflation, recessionary conditions, trade restrictions, export controls, boycotts, and other business disruptions. Fluctuating levels of investment by semiconductor manufacturers may materially affect our aggregate shipments, revenues, results of operations, and cash flows. Where appropriate, we endeavor to attempt to respond to these fluctuations with cost management programs aimed at aligning our expenditures with anticipated revenue streams, which sometimes result in restructuring charges. Even during periods of reduced revenues, we must continue to invest in R&D and maintain extensive ongoing worldwide customer service and support capabilities to remain competitive, which may harm our profitability and other financial results. We Have a Limited Number of Key Customers Sales to a limited number of large customers constitute a significant portion of our overall shipments, revenue, cash flows, and profitability. As a result, the actions of even one customer may subject us to variability in those areas is difficult to predict. In addition, large customers may be able to negotiate requirements that result in decreased pricing, increased costs, and/or lower margins for us, and limitations on our ability to share technology with others. Similarly, significant portions of our credit risk may, at any given time, be concentrated among a limited number of customers so that the failure of even one of these key customers to pay its obligations to us could significantly impact our results of operations, and financial condition. Strategic Alliances and Customer Consolidation May Have Negative Effects on Our Business Semiconductor manufacturing companies from time to time enter into strategic alliances or consolidate with one another to expedite the development of processes and other manufacturing technologies and/or achieve economies of scale. The outcomes of such an alliance can be the definition of a particular tool set for a certain function and/or the standardization of a series of process steps that use a specific set of manufacturing equipment. In addition, the outcomes of consolidation can potentially lead to an overall reduction in the market for semiconductor manufacturing equipment as customers’ operations achieve economies of scale and/or increased purchasing power based on their higher volumes. In certain instances, this could work to our disadvantage if a competitor’s tools or equipment become the standard equipment for such functions or processes. Additional outcomes of such consolidation may include our customers re-evaluating their future supplier relationships to consider our competitors’ products and/or gaining additional influence over the pricing of products and the control of intellectual property or data. Similarly, our customers may partner with, or follow the lead of, educational or research institutions that establish processes for accomplishing various tasks or manufacturing steps. If those institutions utilize a competitor’s equipment when they establish those processes, it is likely that customers will tend to use the same equipment in setting up their own manufacturing lines. Even if they select our equipment, the institutions and the customers that follow their lead could impose conditions on acceptance of that Lam Research Corporation 2026 10-K 16 Table of Contents equipment, such as adherence to standards and requirements or limitations on how we license our proprietary rights, that increase our costs or require us to take on greater risk. These actions could adversely impact our market share, results of operations, and financial condition. BUSINESS AND OPERATIONAL RISKS Our Revenues and Results of Operations Are Variable Our revenues and results of operations may fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter or year to year due to a number of factors, not all of which are in our control. We manage our expense levels based in part on our expectations of future revenues. Because our operating expenses are based in part on anticipated future revenues, and a certain amount of those expenses are relatively fixed, a change in the timing of recognition of revenue and/or the level of gross profit from a small number of transactions can unfavorably affect results of operations in a particular quarter or year. Factors that may cause our results of operations to fluctuate include, but are not limited to: •legal, tax, accounting, or regulatory changes (including, but not limited to, changes in import/export regulations and tariffs, such as regulations imposed by the U.S. government restricting exports to China or regulations imposed by other countries restricting the export of certain materials or the re-export of products containing such materials, or potential additional tariffs on imports, and tariffs imposed by other countries) or changes in the interpretation or enforcement of existing requirements; •the impact of stagnating or worsening business and economic conditions, including inflationary pressures, general economic slowdown or a recession, actual or anticipated changes in interest rates, reductions in government spending or other changes in monetary policy, or adverse financial or commodity markets activity or macroeconomic conditions, including as a result of geopolitical conflicts; •changes in average selling prices, customer mix, and product mix; •foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations; •economic conditions in the electronics and semiconductor industries in general and specifically the semiconductor equipment industry; •changes in industry trends or demand drivers for semiconductor chips and semiconductor equipment, including changes in the level of investment in AI and related infrastructure; •the size and timing of orders from customers; •changes in our deferred revenue balance, including as a result of factors such as volume purchase agreements, multi-year service contracts, back orders, and down payments toward purchases; •consolidation of the customer base, which may result in the investment decisions of one customer or market having a significant effect on demand for our products or services; •the failure of our suppliers or outsource providers to perform their obligations in a manner consistent with our expectations or to meet increases in demand for their products or services, including due to limited production capacity or constrained access to raw materials or components (such as rare earth elements), which could result in delays, higher costs, or an inability to fulfill orders; •the impact of manufacturing difficulties or constraints on expanding manufacturing capacity by us or our customers or suppliers; •customer cancellations or delays in shipments, installations, customer payments, and/or customer acceptances; •the extent that customers continue to purchase and use our products and services in their business; •any disruption to our relationship with, or loss of business from, customers, including due to actual or alleged non-compliance with contractual or other customer requirements, applicable laws, rules, or regulations, or breaches of customer trust; •our customers’ reuse of existing and installed products, to the extent that such reuse decreases their need to purchase new products or services; •our ability to develop, introduce, and market new, enhanced, and competitive products in a timely manner; •our competitors’ introduction of new products; •legal or technical challenges to our products and technologies; •transportation, communication, demand, information technology, or supply disruptions based on factors outside our control, such as strikes, force majeure events, wars, terrorist activities, international conflict, epidemics, pandemics, outbreaks of diseases or other global health emergencies, or natural or man-made disasters (including disasters resulting from climate change), including earthquakes, wildfires, hurricanes, flooding, and heat waves; •management of supply chain risks; and •changes in our estimated effective tax rate. Lam Research Corporation 2026 10-K 17 Table of Contents Our Business Relies on Technology, Data, Intellectual Property and Other Sensitive Information That is Susceptible to Cybersecurity and Other Threats or Incidents Our business is dependent upon the use and protection of technology, data, intellectual property and other sensitive information, which may be owned by, or licensed to, us or third parties, such as our customers and vendors. We maintain and rely upon certain critical information systems for the creation, transmission, use and storage of much of this information, and for the effective operation of our business. These information systems include, but are not limited to, telecommunications, the Internet, our corporate intranet, various computer hardware and software applications (some of which may be integrated into the products that we sell or be required in order to provide the services that we offer), network communications, and email. These information systems may be owned and maintained by us, our outsourced providers, or third parties such as vendors, contractors, customers and Cloud providers. In addition, we make use of Software-as-a-Service (“SaaS”) products for certain important business functions that are provided by third parties and hosted on their own networks and servers, or third-party networks and servers, all of which rely on networks, email and/or the Internet for their function. The technology, data, intellectual property and other sensitive information we seek to protect, and the information systems used to store, process, or transmit such information, are subject to loss, unauthorized access, unauthorized release, misappropriation, misuse, disruption, breach, degradation, or failure, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business or operations. Such events may result from various possible causes, including mistakes or unauthorized actions by our employees, contractors, or other third parties, or cyberattacks or other malicious activities by third parties, including industrial, corporate, or other espionage, criminal hackers, or state-sponsored intrusions, by methods that include exploitation of known or unknown software or hardware vulnerabilities, viruses, malware, ransomware, social engineering (such as phishing schemes), credential harvesting, denial of service attacks, destructive or inadequate code, software or hardware failure, power failures, or physical damage to computers, hard drives, communication lines, or networking equipment, in each case with respect to us or the third-party product and service providers upon which we rely. We or our third-party product and service providers may not be able to anticipate, identify, or implement effective preventive measures against cyberattacks or data security incidents and, even if timely identified, we or our third-party product and service providers may not be able to remediate such attacks or incidents in a timely and effective manner, or to mitigate or avoid adverse impacts resulting from any such attacks or incidents. These threats continue to evolve and may include the use of tools and techniques that change frequently or may be disguised or difficult to detect, or designed to circumvent security controls, evade detection, or remove forensic evidence, or remain dormant until a triggering event, or that may continue undetected for an extended period of time, which may hinder our or our third-party product and service providers’ ability to identify, investigate, and remediate attacks or incidents in a timely and effective manner, or to mitigate or avoid adverse impacts resulting from any such attacks or incidents. In addition, the development and deployment of AI models, tools, and other applications expose us, our customers, suppliers, and other third-party providers to increased and novel risks and vulnerabilities, including prompt injection, hallucinations, errors, and other issues related to AI agents, as well as the risk of compromise of valuable intellectual property. For example, the autonomous nature of agentic AI increases the risk that agents learn to circumvent security controls, and certain generative AI systems and large language models may, in order to satisfy user prompts, access or retrieve data using the credentials, permissions, or access rights of the user or connected systems, which may increase the risk of unauthorized access, data leakage, or improper use of sensitive or proprietary information. To the extent AI capabilities improve and are increasingly adopted, they may be used to introduce, identify, or exploit vulnerabilities and to implement increasingly sophisticated cybersecurity attacks and could materially and adversely impact our business or operations. In addition, even if we or our third-party product and service providers are able to develop patches or other mitigations to address newly identified vulnerabilities, the pace at which AI enables the discovery and exploitation of such vulnerabilities may exceed our or our third-party product and service providers’ ability to implement such patches and mitigations quickly enough to prevent the exploitation of such vulnerabilities. We experience cybersecurity and other threats and incidents in the course of our operations. Although past threats and incidents have not resulted in a material adverse effect, we may incur material losses related to cybersecurity and other threats or incidents in the future. Cybersecurity or other incidents could have a material adverse effect on our business. Such adverse effects might include: •loss of (or inability to access, e.g. through ransomware) confidential and/or sensitive information stored on these critical information systems or transmitted to or from those systems; •the shutdown or disruption of the proper function of our products, services and/or operations; •the failure of our or our customers’ manufacturing processes; •errors in the output of our work or our customers’ work; •the loss or public exposure of the personal or other confidential information of our employees, customers or other parties; •the unauthorized public release of customer financial and business plans, customer orders and operational results; •exposure to claims from our employees or third parties who are adversely impacted by such incidents; •misappropriation or theft of our or a customer’s, supplier’s or other party’s assets or resources, including technology, data, intellectual property or other sensitive information and costs associated therewith; •reputational damage; •diminution in the value of our investment in research, development and engineering; or •our failure to meet, or violation of, regulatory or other legal obligations, such as the timely publication or filing of financial statements, tax information, and other required communications. While we have implemented International Organization for Standardization (“ISO”) 27001 compliant security procedures and virus protection software, intrusion prevention systems, identity and access control, and emergency recovery processes, and we carefully Lam Research Corporation 2026 10-K 18 Table of Contents select our third-party providers of information systems, to mitigate risks to the information systems that we rely on and to the technology, data, intellectual property and other sensitive information we seek to protect, those security procedures and mitigation and protection systems cannot be guaranteed to be fail-safe, and we may still suffer cybersecurity and other incidents, which could have a material adverse effect on our business or operations. It has been difficult and may continue to be difficult to hire and retain employees with substantial cybersecurity acumen. In addition, there have been and may continue to be instances of our policies and procedures not being effective in enabling us to identify risks, threats and incidents in a timely manner, or at all, to mitigate the impact of such incidents when they occur, or to respond expediently, appropriately and effectively when incidents occur and repair any damage caused by such incidents, and such occurrences could have a material adverse effect on our business. We Use Artificial Intelligence in Our Business, and Challenges with Properly Managing Its Use Could Result in Reputational Harm, Competitive Harm, and Legal Liability, and Materially and Adversely Affect Our Results of Operations. We are increasingly using AI tools as part of our business, including internally developed machine learning tools and large language models provided by third parties. For example, we use or are seeking to use AI tools to enhance research and development, manufacturing, installation, and servicing of our products, services delivery, supply chain management, sales and marketing, and compliance activities. We are also pursuing additional opportunities to incorporate AI tools, including agentic AI, into our business, including our products and services, and we expect this trend to continue. There are significant risks involved in developing and deploying AI, and there can be no assurance that our usage of AI will enhance our business, products or services, including our productivity, operational efficiency, effectiveness, or profitability. For example, if the AI tools we utilize are flawed or fail to execute properly, our ability to deliver our products and services to our customers may be adversely impacted. In addition, our competitors may incorporate AI tools into their products or operational processes more quickly or more successfully than us, which could have a material adverse effect on our competitive position, reputation and results of operations. The intellectual property rights, including patent and copyright rights, associated with artificial intelligence have not been fully addressed by U.S. and foreign courts, and there remains uncertainty and ongoing litigation in different jurisdictions as to the degree and extent of protection warranted for artificial intelligence-generated technologies and relevant system inputs and outputs. The courts and regulators have not clearly defined the scope for artificial intelligence-generated content, algorithms or trained models. If we fail to secure or maintain protection for the intellectual property rights concerning technologies developed using artificial intelligence, or later have our intellectual property rights invalidated or otherwise diminished, our competitors may be able to take advantage of our research and development efforts to develop competing products, which could adversely affect our business, reputation, results of operations, or financial condition. Our use or future adoption of artificial intelligence in our business, which may include tools developed by third parties, could expose us to breach of a data or software license, website terms of service claims, claimed violations of privacy rights or other tort claims. Further, although we have taken measures to prohibit such use, our employees’ use of third-party or publicly available artificial intelligence or other software tools may inadvertently result in the disclosure of our intellectual property, proprietary information or other sensitive or confidential data into the public domain, which could expose us to legal liability, diminish the value of our intellectual property, weaken our competitive position and harm our reputation. Our Future Success Depends Heavily on International Sales and the Management of Global Operations Non-U.S. sales accounted for approximately 93% of total revenue in each of the fiscal years 2026, 2025, and 2024. We expect that international sales will continue to account for a substantial majority of our total revenue in future years. We are subject to various challenges related to international sales and the management of global operations including, but not limited to: •domestic and international trade regulations, policies, practices, relations, disputes, and issues; •domestic and international tariffs, export controls, and other barriers; •developing customers and/or suppliers who may have limited access to capital resources; •global or national economic and political conditions; •changes in currency controls; •differences in the enforcement of intellectual property and contract rights in varying jurisdictions; •our ability to respond to customer and foreign government demands for locally sourced systems, spare parts, and services and to develop the necessary relationships with local suppliers; •changes in and compliance with U.S. and international laws and regulations affecting foreign operations, including U.S. and international trade restrictions and sanctions, international data privacy regulations, such as the General Data Protection Regulation, anti-bribery, anti-corruption, anti-boycott, environmental, tax, and labor laws; •fluctuations in interest and foreign currency exchange rates; •the need for technical support resources in different locations; and •our ability to secure and retain qualified people, and effectively manage people, in all necessary locations for the successful operation of our business. Lam Research Corporation 2026 10-K 19 Table of Contents There is inherent risk that political, diplomatic and national security influences can lead to trade disputes, impacts and/or disruptions, in particular those affecting the semiconductor industry. This can adversely affect our business in China, Japan, Korea, and/or Taiwan and perhaps the entire Asia Pacific region or worldwide. A significant trade dispute, impact, and/or disruption in any area where we do business could have a materially adverse impact on our future results of operations and cash flows. For example, the conflict that began in February 2026 between the United States, Israel, a number of states in the Persian Gulf, and Iran has led to significant regional instability and disruption in the Middle East, including the closure of or restrictions on the Strait of Hormuz, threatened or actual attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, and threatened or actual attacks on transportation and energy infrastructure, which has significantly and adversely affected the supply and prices of oil, refined oil products and byproducts, liquid natural gas, as well as certain other industrial commodities, such as aluminum, helium, bromine, and sulfur. Some of these commodities are important to the semiconductor industry. As a result, this instability and disruption has adversely affected, and may in the future materially and adversely affect, our business, results of operations, and financial condition. The extent to which we may be affected by this conflict will depend on various factors, including the scope, severity, and duration of the conflict and the extent to which the conflict, or additional laws, sanctions, or trade restrictions arising from or related to the conflict, further disrupt the availability or cost of critical inputs used in the semiconductor industry. Continuation or escalation of this conflict may also magnify the impact of other risks identified in this 2026 Form 10-K. Tariffs, export controls, additional taxes, trade barriers, sanctions, the termination or modification of trade agreements, trade zones, and other duty mitigation initiatives, and any reciprocal retaliatory actions, can increase our manufacturing costs, decrease margins, reduce the competitiveness of our products, disrupt our supply chain operations, or inhibit our ability to sell products or provide services, all of which has had and in the future could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition. For example, our business requires steel and aluminum to manufacture our products, and the imposition of tariffs on steel and aluminum imports into the United States increased our manufacturing costs in fiscal year 2026, which adversely impacted our margins. Certain of our international sales depend on our ability to obtain export licenses from the U.S. or foreign governments. Our inability to obtain such licenses, or an expansion of the number or kinds of sales for which export licenses are required, has limited and could in the future further limit the market for our products and has had and could in the future have an adverse impact on our revenues. As is discussed below under the heading “Our Sales to Customers in China, a Significant Region for Us, Have Been Impacted, and are Likely to Be Materially and Adversely Affected by Export License Requirements and Other Regulatory Changes, or Other Governmental Actions in the Course of the Trade Relationship Between the U.S. and China,” the U.S. government has in recent years imposed new controls, including expanded export license requirements and restrictions on sales to certain Chinese entities that significantly impact trade with China. In addition, the U.S. government has an ongoing process of assessing technologies that may be subject to new or additional export controls, and it is possible that such additional controls, if and when imposed, could further adversely impact our ability to sell our products outside the United States. The implementation by the U.S. government of broad export controls restricting access to our technology (such as recent controls limiting exports to China) may cause customers with international operations to reconsider their use of and reliance on our products, which could adversely impact our future revenue and profits and strengthen competitors who are not subject to such restrictions. Furthermore, there are risks that foreign governments may, among other things, take retaliatory actions; insist on the use of local suppliers; compel companies to partner with local companies to design and supply equipment on a local basis, requiring the transfer of intellectual property rights and/or local manufacturing; utilize their influence over their judicial systems to respond to intellectual property disputes or issues; and provide special incentives to government-backed local customers to buy from local competitors, even if their products are inferior to ours; all of which could adversely impact our ability to compete as well as our revenues and margins. For example, China is the primary source of supply of certain rare earth elements critical to the manufacture of certain of our products. The Chinese government has imposed export controls and license requirements on certain rare earth elements and on certain products that contain Chinese-origin rare earth elements that are manufactured outside of China (which have been suspended in part until November 2026 (unless extended)) and could expand such controls or licensing requirements in the future. Such measures could delay or prevent our suppliers from sourcing the materials, or producing the components, required for us to manufacture our products, and increase the costs of such materials or components. In addition, to the extent these controls require us to obtain export licenses for certain products manufactured outside of China, we would experience increased compliance burdens, may be unable to obtain the required licenses, and may be unable to obtain materials or components necessary to meet our production requirements or product specifications in a timely manner, or at all, or on commercially acceptable terms. The occurrence of any of these risks could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition, and margins. Our customers (and their customers and other downstream parties) may also be adversely affected by the tariffs, export controls, and other trade issues described above. Additionally, certain materials are primarily available in a limited number of countries, including rare earth elements, minerals, and metals. The supplies, equipment, raw materials, and other inputs necessary for the businesses of our customers and other downstream parties could become more difficult to obtain for various reasons, including, but not limited to, business interruptions of suppliers, reduced availability of labor, transit disruptions, consolidation in their supply chain, export controls, sanctions, trade restrictions, tariffs, geopolitical tensions, economic circumstances, conflict, or political conditions. If the ability of downstream parties to source the inputs needed to produce their products is impaired, then demand for our products may be adversely impacted. This could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition. We are exposed to potentially adverse movements in foreign currency exchange rates. The majority of our sales and expenses are denominated in U.S. dollars. However, we are exposed to foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations primarily related to revenues denominated in Japanese yen and expenses denominated in euro, Korean won, Malaysian ringgit, and Indian rupee. Currently, we hedge certain anticipated foreign currency cash flows, primarily anticipated revenues denominated in Japanese yen and expenses denominated in euro, Korean won, Malaysian ringgit, and Indian rupee. In addition, we enter into foreign currency hedge contracts to Lam Research Corporation 2026 10-K 20 Table of Contents minimize the short-term impact of the foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations on certain foreign currency denominated monetary assets and liabilities, primarily cash, third-party accounts receivables, accounts payables, and intercompany receivables and payables. We believe these are our primary exposures to currency rate fluctuation. We expect to continue to enter into hedging transactions, for the purposes outlined, for the foreseeable future. However, these hedging transactions may not achieve their desired effect because differences between the actual timing of the underlying exposures and our forecasts of those exposures may leave us either over or under hedged on any given transaction. Moreover, by hedging these foreign currency denominated revenues, expenses, monetary assets, and liabilities, we may miss favorable currency trends that would have been advantageous to us but for the hedges. Additionally, we are exposed to short-term foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations on non-U.S. dollar-denominated monetary assets and liabilities (other than those currency exposures previously discussed), and currently we do not enter into foreign currency hedge contracts against these exposures. Therefore, we are subject to potential unfavorable foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations to the extent that we transact business (including intercompany transactions) in these currencies. The magnitude of our overseas business also affects where our cash is generated. Certain uses of cash, such as share repurchases, payment of dividends, or the repayment of our indebtedness, can usually only be made with onshore cash balances. Since the majority of our cash is generated outside of the United States, this may impact certain business decisions and outcomes with respect to our priorities for the use of cash or the need for alternative sources of liquidity if our subsidiaries are unable to provide sufficient funds for us. Disruptions to Our Supply Chain and Outsource Providers Could Impact Our Ability to Meet Demand, Increase Our Costs, and Adversely Impact Our Revenue and Results of Operations Our supply chain has played and will continue to play a key role in our product development, manufacturing operations, field installation, and customer support. Our business depends on our timely supply of products and services to meet the demand from our customers, which depends in significant part on the timely delivery of parts, materials, and services, including components and subassemblies, from our direct suppliers to us, and to our direct suppliers by other companies. In addition, outsource providers have played and will continue to play a key role both in the manufacturing and customer-focused operations described above, and in many of our transactional and administrative functions, such as information technology, facilities management, and certain elements of our finance organization. These providers and suppliers might suffer financial setbacks, be acquired by third parties that restrict or preclude further business with us, become subject to exclusivity arrangements that preclude further business with us, or be unable to meet our requirements or expectation due to their independent business decisions or force majeure events that could interrupt or impair their continued ability to perform as we expect. We may also experience significant interruptions of our manufacturing operations, delays in our ability to deliver or install products or perform services or to recognize revenue, increased costs, or customer order cancellations as a result of: •the failure or inability to accurately forecast demand and obtain sufficient quantities of quality parts on a cost-effective basis; •volatility in the availability and cost of parts, materials or services, including increased costs due to tariffs, foreign export controls, rising inflation or interest rates or other market conditions; •difficulties or delays in obtaining required import or export approvals (including those that may be required under the Chinese export controls on rare earth elements described above); •restrictions on the import and sale of products that incorporate technologies developed or manufactured in whole or in part in certain countries; •shipment delays and increased costs of shipment due to transportation interruptions, capacity constraints, or fuel shortages; •shortages of semiconductor or other components or materials as a result of increases in demand or decreases in supply, including as a result of export restrictions on particular parts or materials used by us or our direct or indirect suppliers; •information technology or infrastructure failures, including those of a third-party supplier or service provider; and •transportation or supply disruptions based on factors outside our control, such as strikes, force majeure events, wars, terrorist activities, international conflict, widespread outbreak of illness, or natural or man-made disasters (including disasters resulting from climate change), including earthquakes, wildfires, hurricanes, flooding, and heat waves. Demand for electronic products and other factors have resulted in, and may in the future result in, a shortage of parts, materials, and services needed to manufacture, deliver, and install our products, as well as delays in and unpredictability of shipments due to transportation interruptions. Such shortages, delays, and unpredictability have adversely impacted, and may in the future impact, our suppliers’ ability to meet our demand requirements. Difficulties in obtaining sufficient and timely supply of parts, materials, or services, and delays in and unpredictability of shipments due to transportation interruptions, have adversely impacted, and may in the future adversely impact, our manufacturing operations and our ability to meet customer demand. In addition, difficulties in obtaining parts, materials or services necessary to deliver or install products or perform services have adversely impacted, and may in the future adversely impact, our ability to recognize revenue, our gross margins on the revenue we recognize, and our other results of operations. Although we are endeavoring to pass along some of the impact of increased costs to our customers to counteract adverse impacts to our gross margins and other results of operations, such measures could be unsuccessful, or could have the effect of reducing demand for our products or services, which would adversely impact our revenue or market share. Further, increased restrictions imposed on a class of chemicals known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (or PFAS), which are widely used in a large number of products, including parts and materials that are incorporated into our products, may negatively impact our supply chain due to the potentially decreased availability, or non-availability, of PFAS-containing products. Proposed Lam Research Corporation 2026 10-K 21 Table of Contents regulations under consideration could require that we transition away from the usage of PFAS-containing products, which could adversely impact our business, operations, revenue, costs, and competitive position. There is no assurance that suitable replacements for PFAS-containing parts and materials will be available at similar costs, or at all. Although we attempt to select reputable providers and suppliers and we attempt to secure their performance on terms documented in written contracts, it is possible that one or more of these providers or suppliers could fail to perform as we expect, or fail to secure or protect intellectual property rights, and such failure could have an adverse impact on our business. In some cases, the requirements of our business mandate that we obtain certain components and sub-assemblies included in our products from a single supplier or a limited group of suppliers. Where practical, we endeavor to establish alternative sources to mitigate the risk that the failure of any single provider or supplier will adversely affect our business, but this is not feasible in all circumstances. Some key parts are subject to long lead-times or available only from a single supplier or limited group of suppliers, and some sourcing or subassembly is provided by suppliers located in countries other than the countries where we conduct our manufacturing. There is therefore a risk that a prolonged inability to obtain certain components or secure key services could impair our ability to manage operations, ship products, and generate revenues, which could adversely affect our results of operations or market share and damage our customer relationships. We May Not Achieve the Expected Benefits of Our Restructuring Plans and Business Transformation Initiatives, and These Efforts Could Have a Material Adverse Effect on Our Business, Operations, Financial Condition, Results of Operations and Competitive Position We have in the past undertaken, and may in the future undertake, business restructuring, realignment and transformation plans or initiatives. While such plans or initiatives would generally have the goal of strengthening our operations and/or achieving operational efficiencies, there can be no assurance that we will be successful in these plans and initiatives. Implementation of such plans and initiatives may be costly and disruptive to our business, we may not be able to complete them at the cost or within the time frame contemplated, and we may not be able to obtain the anticipated benefits within the projected timing or at all. Restructuring and transformation may adversely affect our internal programs and our ability to recruit and retain skilled and motivated personnel, may result in a loss of continuity, loss of accumulated knowledge and/or inefficiency during transitional periods, may require a significant amount of management and other employees' time and focus, and may be distracting to employees and management, which may divert attention from operating and growing our business. Additionally, reductions in our workforce may cause a reduction in our production output capabilities which could impact our ability to manufacture or ship products to customers within a mutually beneficial timeline. If we fail to achieve some or all of the expected benefits, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, operations, financial condition, results of operations and competitive position. We Face Risks Related to the Disruption of Our Primary Manufacturing and R&D Facilities While we maintain business continuity plans, our manufacturing and R&D facilities are concentrated in a limited number of locations. These locations are subject to disruption for a variety of reasons, such as natural or man-made disasters (including disasters resulting from climate change), including earthquakes, wildfires, hurricanes, flooding, and heat waves, epidemics, pandemics, outbreaks of diseases or other global health emergencies, force majeure events, war, terrorist activities, political or governmental unrest or instability, disruptions of our information technology resources, utility interruptions, international conflict, or other events beyond our control. Such disruptions may cause delays in developing or shipping our products, in engaging with customers on new product applications, or in supporting customers, which could result in the loss of business or customer trust, adversely affecting our business and results of operations. We Are Subject to Risks Relating to Product Concentration and Lack of Product Revenue Diversification We derive a substantial percentage of our revenues from a limited number of products. Our products are priced up to the tens of millions of dollars per system. As a result, the inability to recognize revenue on even a few systems can cause a significantly adverse impact on our revenues for a given quarter, and, in the longer term, the continued market acceptance of these products is critical to our future success. Our business, results of operations, financial condition, and cash flows could therefore be adversely affected by: •a decline in demand for even a limited number of our products; •a failure to achieve continued market acceptance of our key products; •export restrictions or other regulatory or legislative actions that could limit our ability to sell those products to key customers or customers within certain markets; •an improved version of products being offered by a competitor in the markets in which we participate; •increased pressure from competitors that offer broader product lines; •increased pressure from regional competitors; •technological changes that we are unable to address with our products; •slower than anticipated development of various target markets that utilize new technologies; or •a failure to release new or enhanced versions of our products on a timely basis. In addition, the fact that we offer limited product lines creates the risk that our customers may view us as less important to their business than our competitors that offer additional products and/or product capabilities, including new products that take advantage of “big data” or other new technologies such as machine learning and AI. This may impact our ability to maintain or expand our business with certain customers. Such product concentration may also subject us to additional risks associated with technology changes. Our business is affected by our customers’ use of our products in certain steps in their wafer fabrication processes. Should Lam Research Corporation 2026 10-K 22 Table of Contents technologies change so that the manufacture of semiconductors requires fewer steps using our products, this could have a larger impact on our business than it would on the business of our less concentrated competitors. We May Fail to Protect Our Critical Proprietary Technology Rights, Which Could Affect Our Business Our success depends in part on our proprietary technology and the proprietary technology of others that we license or incorporate into our products and services, and our ability to protect key components of that technology through patents, copyrights, trade secrets and other forms of protection, including non-disclosure, confidentiality, and other types of contractual arrangements. The protection of our key proprietary technology and the technology of others upon which we rely is important to achieving our goals of developing technological expertise and new products and systems that give us a competitive advantage; increasing market penetration and growth of our installed base; and providing comprehensive support and service to our customers. For example, as part of our strategy to protect our technology, we currently hold a number of U.S. and foreign patents and pending patent applications, we hold exclusive licenses under certain intellectual property rights from third parties, and we keep certain information, processes, and techniques confidential and/or as trade secrets. However, our rights under these forms of protection afford us only limited protection and may not be adequate in all respects. For example, our owned or licensed intellectual property rights could be challenged, invalidated, circumvented, infringed, or misappropriated; we may fail to apply for or obtain sufficient patent protection for our technology; governments may fail to issue patents for pending applications; or we may lose confidentiality or trade secret protections over valuable information due to our, including our employees’, or third parties’ intentional or unintentional disclosure or other actions or omissions. Additionally, when we seek to exercise intellectual property rights, intellectual property litigation can be expensive and time-consuming and even if patents are issued, or trade secret processes are followed, the legal systems in certain of the countries in which we do business might not enforce patents and other intellectual property rights as rigorously or effectively as the United States or may favor local entities in their intellectual property enforcement. The rights granted or anticipated under any of our patents, pending patent applications, copyrights, or trade secrets (or those of third parties on which we rely) may be narrower than we expect or, in fact, provide no competitive advantages. Moreover, because we selectively file for patent protection in different jurisdictions, we may not have adequate protection in all jurisdictions based on such filing decisions. Any of these circumstances could have a material adverse impact on our business. Our Ability to Attract, Retain, and Motivate Key Employees Is Critical to Our Success Our ability to compete successfully depends in large part on our ability to attract, retain, and motivate key employees with the appropriate skills, experiences, and competencies. This has been and is expected to continue to be an ongoing challenge due to intense competition for top talent, fluctuations in industry or business economic conditions, as well as increasing geographic expansion, and these factors in combination may result in cycles of hiring activity and workforce reductions. For example, we are actively seeking to hire additional field and manufacturing personnel to support the growth of our business, and any failure to do so could make it difficult to achieve our operating and strategic goals. Competition for field and manufacturing personnel is intense. Some of the companies with which we compete for experienced employees have greater resources than us and may be able to offer more attractive terms of employment, and we may lose key employees or fail to attract other talented personnel. Our success in hiring and retaining employees depends on a variety of factors, including the attractiveness of our compensation and benefit programs, global economic or political and industry conditions, our organizational structure, global competition for talent and the availability of qualified employees, the availability of career development opportunities, the ability to obtain necessary authorizations for workers to provide services outside their home countries, and our ability to offer a challenging and rewarding work environment. If we are not able to successfully attract, retain, and motivate key employees, we may be unable to capitalize on market opportunities and our results of operations may be materially and adversely affected. If We Choose to Acquire or Dispose of Businesses, Product Lines, and Technologies, We May Encounter Unforeseen Costs and Difficulties That Could Impair Our Financial Performance An important element of our management strategy is to review acquisition prospects that would complement our existing products, augment our market coverage and distribution ability, enhance our technological capabilities, or accomplish other strategic objectives. As a result, we may seek to make acquisitions of complementary companies, products, or technologies, or we may reduce or dispose of certain product lines or technologies that no longer fit our long-term strategies. For regulatory or other reasons, we may not be successful in our attempts to acquire or dispose of businesses, products, or technologies, resulting in significant financial costs, reduced or lost opportunities, and diversion of management’s attention. Managing an acquired business, disposing of product technologies, or reducing personnel entails numerous operational and financial risks, including difficulties in assimilating acquired operations and new personnel or separating existing business or product groups, diversion of management’s attention away from other business concerns, amortization of acquired intangible assets, adverse customer reaction to our decision to cease support for a product, and potential loss of key employees or customers of acquired or disposed operations. There can be no assurance that we will be able to achieve and manage successfully any such integration of potential acquisitions, disposition of product lines or technologies, or reduction in personnel, or that our management, personnel, or systems will be adequate to support continued operations. Any such inabilities or inadequacies could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition, and/or cash flows. In addition, any acquisition could result in changes such as potentially dilutive issuances of equity securities, the incurrence of debt and contingent liabilities, the amortization of related intangible assets, and goodwill impairment charges, any of which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, and/or the price of our Common Stock. Lam Research Corporation 2026 10-K 23 Table of Contents LEGAL, REGULATORY AND TAX RISKS Increasing and Evolving Environmental Regulations May Adversely Affect Our Results of Operations We are subject to a variety of domestic and international governmental regulations related to the handling, discharge, sale, and disposal of toxic, volatile, or otherwise hazardous or potentially hazardous substances, and the regulatory environment is dynamic. Failure to comply with present or future environmental regulations (such as future regulations imposed on the use or sale of PFAS or PFAS-containing products) could result in fines being imposed on us, require us to undertake remediation activities, suspend production, and/or cease operations, or cause our customers to not accept our products. These regulations could require us to alter or discontinue our current operations in certain jurisdictions, acquire significant additional equipment, incur substantial other expenses to comply with environmental regulations, or take other actions. Compliance obligations, as well as any failure to comply with current or future regulations governing the use, handling, sale, transport, or disposal of hazardous or potentially hazardous substances (including, but not limited to, PFAS) could subject us to future costs and liabilities that may adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, and ability to operate our business. Our Sales to Customers in China, a Significant Region for Us, Have Been Impacted, and are Likely to Be Materially and Adversely Affected by Export License Requirements and Other Regulatory Changes, or Other Governmental Actions in the Course of the Trade Relationship Between the U.S. and China China represents a large and fast-developing market for the semiconductor equipment industry and therefore is important to our business. Revenue in China, which includes global customers and domestic Chinese customers with manufacturing facilities in China, represented approximately 34%, 34%, and 42% of our total revenue for fiscal years 2026, 2025, and 2024, respectively. The U.S. and China have historically had a complex relationship that has included actions that have impacted trade between the two countries. In recent years, these actions have included an expansion of export license requirements imposed by the U.S. government, which have limited the market for our products, adversely impacted our revenues, and increased our exposure to foreign competition, and could potentially do so to an even greater extent in the future. Additionally, the U.S. government has enacted rules aimed at restricting China’s ability to manufacture advanced semiconductors, which include restrictions on exports, reexports or transfers to, or shipping, transmitting, transferring, or facilitating such movement to, or performing services at, customer facilities in China engaged in certain technology end-uses, without appropriate authorizations obtained from U.S. authorities. The U.S. Department of Commerce has also enacted rules that have expanded export license requirements for U.S. companies to sell certain items to companies and other end-users in China that are designated as military end-users or have operations that could support military end uses; has added additional Chinese companies to its restricted entity list and unverified list under suspicion of military-civil fusion, support of Russia, or other factors associated with a broadening scope of national security concerns; and has expanded an existing rule (referred to as the foreign direct product rule) in a manner that could cause foreign-made wafers, chipsets, and certain related items produced with many of our products to be subject to U.S. licensing requirements if Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd (“Huawei”) or its affiliates are parties to a transaction involving the items. These rules have required and may require us to apply for and obtain additional export licenses to supply certain of our products to customers in China, and there is no assurance that we will be issued licenses that we apply for on a timely basis or at all. In addition, our customers (including, but not limited to, Chinese customers) may require U.S. export licenses for the use of our products in order to manufacture products, including semiconductor wafers and integrated circuits, for those of their customers (i.e. Huawei and its affiliates) that are subject to the expanded foreign direct product rule, which may adversely impact the demand for our products. The U.S. Department of Commerce could in the future add additional Chinese companies to its restricted entity list or unverified list or take other actions that could expand licensing requirements or otherwise impact the market for our products and our revenue. The implementation, interpretation, and impact on our business of these rules and other regulatory actions taken by the U.S. government is uncertain and evolving, and these rules, other regulatory actions or changes, and other actions taken by the governments of either the U.S. or China, or both, that have occurred and may occur in the future could weaken our competitive position and materially and adversely affect our results of operations. Intellectual Property, Indemnity, Misuse of Third-Party Information, and Other Claims Against Us Can Be Costly and We Could Lose Significant Rights That Are Necessary to Our Continued Business and Profitability Third parties may assert infringement, misappropriation, unfair competition, product liability, breach of contract, or other claims against us. From time to time, other persons allege that our products infringe or misappropriate their patent or other intellectual property rights. In addition, law enforcement authorities may investigate or seek criminal charges against us or our employees based on actual or alleged improper receipt or misuse of designated technology, intellectual property, or other confidential information of third parties, including customers, suppliers, other business partners, or competitors, including in connection with national or economic security measures intended to protect designated technologies. We also are subject to claims arising from commercial and other relationships, including those alleging infringement, misappropriation, breach of contract, and misuse of designated technology, intellectual property, or other confidential information. In addition, our bylaws and other indemnity obligations provide that we will indemnify officers and members of our Board of Directors against losses that they may incur in legal proceedings resulting from their service to us. From time to time, in the normal course of business, we indemnify third parties with whom we enter into contractual relationships, including customers and suppliers, with respect to certain matters. We have agreed, under certain conditions, to hold these third parties harmless against specified losses, such as those arising from a breach of representations or covenants, other third-party claims that our products when used for their intended purposes infringe the intellectual property rights of such other third parties, or other claims made against certain parties. In such cases, it is our policy either to defend the claims or to negotiate licenses or other settlements on commercially reasonable terms. However, we may be unable in the future to negotiate necessary licenses or reach agreement on other settlements on commercially reasonable terms, or at all. Any litigation or investigations relating to these claims by law enforcement or other parties may materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations, and financial Lam Research Corporation 2026 10-K 24 Table of Contents condition, and we and our employees may be subject to civil or criminal liability, fines, substantial damage awards, penalties, loss of customer trust, and reputational damage, or could result in us agreeing to less favorable pricing terms, additional compliance requirements or contractual conditions, all of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and/or results of operations. Moreover, although we have insurance to protect us from certain claims and cover certain losses to our property, such insurance may not cover us for the full amount of any losses, or at all, and may be subject to substantial exclusions and deductibles. We Are Exposed to Various Risks from Our Regulatory Environment We are subject to various risks in the jurisdictions in which we operate related to (1) new, different, inconsistent, or even conflicting laws, rules, and regulations that may be enacted by legislative or executive bodies and/or regulatory agencies; (2) disagreements or disputes related to international trade; and (3) the interpretation and application of laws, rules, and regulations. As a public company with global operations, we are subject to the laws of multiple jurisdictions and the rules and regulations of various governing bodies, including, but not limited to, those related to import and export controls and other trade restrictions, national and economic security (including receipt or use of designated technologies), intellectual property rights, taxes, financial and other disclosures, corporate governance, data protection, privacy, anti-corruption, such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and other local laws prohibiting corrupt payments to governmental officials, anti-boycott compliance, conflict minerals or other social responsibility legislation, immigration or travel regulations, antitrust regulations, foreign ownership and investment, employment and labor, product and manufacturing regulations, environmental, health, and safety requirements, human rights, and laws or regulations relating to carbon emissions, such as the recent reporting requirements imposed by the State of California that require companies to provide climate-related disclosures, as well as other laws or regulations imposed in response to climate change concerns, among others. Each of these laws, rules, and regulations imposes costs on our business, including financial costs and our management’s attention associated with compliance, that could adversely impact our competitive position and our ability to meet customer demand. There have been, and may continue to be, instances of our compliance policies and procedures not being effective to ensure full compliance with all of the laws, rules and regulations to which we are subject. Such instances of non-compliance have presented and may present risks to our business, including the risk of legal, administrative, or regulatory proceedings, claims, demands, inquiries or investigations, fines, criminal penalties, restrictions on our actions or conduct of our business, loss of customer trust, and reputational damage. The occurrence of any of these risks could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and/or results of operations. To maintain high standards of corporate governance and public disclosure, we intend to continue to invest appropriate resources to comply with evolving standards. Changes in or ambiguous interpretations of laws, regulations, and standards, the speed with which new regulations may be enacted and come into effect, and increasing numbers of overlapping and sometimes inconsistent requirements imposed by regulatory authorities may increase the complexity of our regulatory environment and create uncertainty regarding compliance matters or instances where we may not be in compliance. Efforts to comply with new and changing regulations have resulted in, and are likely to continue to result in, reduced net income, increased capital expenditures, and a diversion of management’s time and attention from revenue-generating activities to compliance activities. As we seek to expand our operations into new jurisdictions, grow our business in existing jurisdictions, or as laws, regulations, and standards, or the interpretation or enforcement of such laws, regulations, and standards, evolve, the scope and complexity of our compliance obligations may increase, and we may fail to comply with such laws, regulations, and standards. If we are alleged or found by a court or regulatory agency not to be in compliance with the laws, regulations, or standards, our business, financial condition, competitive position, and/or results of operations could be adversely affected. Our Financial Results May Be Adversely Impacted by Higher than Expected Tax Rates or Exposure to Additional Tax Liabilities We are subject to income, transaction, and other taxes in the United States and various foreign jurisdictions, and judgment is required to determine worldwide tax liabilities. The amount of taxes we pay is subject to ongoing audits in various jurisdictions, and a material assessment by a governing tax authority could affect our profitability. As a global company, our effective tax rate is highly dependent upon the geographic composition of worldwide earnings and tax regulations governing each region. Changes in the split of earnings between countries with differing statutory tax rates, in the valuation allowance of deferred tax assets, in tax laws, in material audit assessments, or in expirations of agreements with tax authorities could adversely affect our effective tax rate. In particular, the carrying value of deferred tax assets, which are predominantly in the United States, is dependent upon our ability to generate future taxable income in the United States. Our Bylaws Designate the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware as the Sole and Exclusive Judicial Forum for Certain Legal Actions Between the Company and its Stockholders, Which May Discourage Lawsuits with Respect to Such Claims Our bylaws provide that, unless we consent otherwise, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the sole and exclusive forum for lawsuits asserting certain stockholder claims (including claims asserted derivatively for our benefit), such as claims against directors and officers for breach of a fiduciary duty, claims arising under any provision of the General Corporation Law of Delaware or our certificate of incorporation or our bylaws, or claims governed by the internal affairs doctrine. This is a general summary of the bylaw provision; you should refer to the language of the bylaws for details. While the forum provision does not generally apply to direct claims arising under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 or the Securities Act of 1933, derivative lawsuits that assert legal claims arising under these statutes could fall within the provision, as recent court decisions have held. Lam Research Corporation 2026 10-K 25 Table of Contents As a Delaware corporation, Delaware law controls issues of our internal affairs, including duties that our directors, officers, employees, and others owe to the Company and its stockholders. We believe that our exclusive forum provision benefits us, and our stockholders, by permitting relatively prompt resolution of lawsuits concerning our internal affairs, promoting consistent application of Delaware law in these lawsuits, and reducing the possibility of duplicative, costly, multi-jurisdictional litigation with the potential for inconsistent outcomes. However, the forum provision limits a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it believes may be more favorable than Delaware, and this could discourage the filing of such lawsuits. FINANCIAL, ACCOUNTING AND CAPITAL MARKETS RISKS The Market for Our Common Stock Is Volatile, Which May Affect Our Ability to Raise Capital or Make Acquisitions or May Subject Our Business to Additional Costs The market price for our Common Stock is volatile and has fluctuated significantly over the past years. The trading price of our Common Stock could continue to be highly volatile and fluctuate widely in response to a variety of factors, many of which are not within our control or influence. These factors include, but are not limited to, the following: •general market, semiconductor, or semiconductor equipment industry conditions; •economic or political events, trends, and unexpected developments occurring nationally, globally, or in any of our key sales regions such as uncertainty regarding economic and other policies and priorities; •the impact of stagnating or worsening business and economic conditions, including inflationary pressures, general economic slowdown or a recession, actual or anticipated changes in interest rates, reductions in government spending or other changes in monetary policy, or adverse financial or commodity markets activity or macroeconomic conditions, including as a result of geopolitical conflicts; •our operating and financial performance and the performance of other companies in our industry; •variations in quarterly results of operations and financial condition, including our liquidity, experienced by us and other companies in our industry; •variations in our revenues, earnings, or other business and financial metrics from forecasts by us or securities analysts or from those experienced by other companies in our industry; •announcements of restructurings, reductions in force, departure of key employees, and/or consolidations of operations; •transactions in our Common Stock by major investors and certain analyst reports, news, social media activity, and speculation; •margin trading, short sales, hedging and derivative transactions involving our Common Stock; •government regulations, including export controls, tariffs, or other trade restrictions; •developments in, or claims relating to, patent, or other proprietary rights; •technological innovations and the introduction of new products by us or our competitors; •commercial success or failure of our new and existing products; or •disruptions of relationships with key customers or suppliers. In addition, the stock market experiences significant price and volume fluctuations. Historically, we have witnessed significant volatility in the price of our Common Stock due in part to the price of and markets for semiconductors. These and other factors have adversely affected and may again adversely affect the price of our Common Stock, regardless of our actual operating performance. In the past, following volatile periods in the price of their stock, many companies became the object of securities class action litigation. If we are sued in a securities class action, we could incur substantial costs, and it could divert management’s attention and resources and have an unfavorable impact on our financial performance and the price for our Common Stock. We May Incur Impairments to Goodwill or Long-lived Assets We review our goodwill identified in business combinations for impairment annually or whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of these assets may exceed the fair value. We review all other long-lived assets, including finite-lived intangible assets, whenever events or changes in circumstance indicate that these assets may not be recoverable. The process of evaluating the potential impairment of goodwill and other long-lived assets requires judgment. Negative industry or economic trends, including reduced market prices of our Common Stock, reduced estimates of future cash flows, disruptions to our business, slower growth rates, or lack of growth in our relevant business units, could lead to impairment charges against our long-lived assets, including goodwill and other intangible assets. When evaluating goodwill, if we conclude that it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount, then a quantitative impairment test is performed and we may be required to record an impairment charge in that period, which could adversely affect our result of operations. When evaluating other long-lived assets, if we conclude that the estimated undiscounted cash flows attributable to the assets are less than their carrying value, we recognize an impairment loss based on the excess of the carrying amount of the assets over their respective fair values, which could adversely affect our results of operations. Our valuation methodology for assessing impairment requires management to make judgments and assumptions based on historical experience and to rely heavily on projections of future operating performance. We operate in a highly competitive environment and projections of future results of operations and cash flows may vary significantly from actual results. Additionally, if our analysis Lam Research Corporation 2026 10-K 26 Table of Contents indicates potential impairment, we may be required to record additional charges to earnings in our financial statements, which could negatively affect our results of operations. Our Leverage and Debt Service Obligations May Adversely Affect Our Financial Condition and Results of Operations We have $3.75 billion in aggregate principal amount of senior unsecured notes outstanding (the “Senior Notes”). Additionally, we have funding available to us under our $2.00 billion commercial paper program and our $2.00 billion revolving credit facility, which serves as a backstop to our commercial paper program. Our revolving credit facility also includes an option to increase the amount up to an additional $750.0 million, for a potential total commitment of $2.75 billion. We may, in the future, decide to enter into additional debt arrangements. In addition, we have entered, and in the future may enter, into derivative instrument arrangements to hedge against the variability of cash flows due to changes in the benchmark interest rate of fixed rate debt. We could be exposed to losses in the event of nonperformance by the counterparties to our derivative instruments. Our indebtedness could have adverse consequences, including: •risk associated with any inability to satisfy our obligations; •a portion of our cash flows that may have to be dedicated to interest and principal payments and may not be available for operations, working capital, capital expenditures, expansion, acquisitions, dividends, share repurchases, or general corporate or other purposes; and •impairment of our ability to obtain additional financing in the future. Our ability to meet our expenses and debt obligations will depend on our future performance, which will be affected by financial, business, economic, regulatory, and other factors. Furthermore, our operations may not generate sufficient cash flows to enable us to meet our expenses and service our debt and our ability to satisfy such obligations will depend in part on the ability of our subsidiaries to provide sufficient funds to us. Such ability may be affected by our subsidiaries’ individual operating results and any limitations or restrictions to which they may be or may become subject. As a result, we may need to enter into new financing arrangements to obtain the necessary funds. If we determine it is necessary to seek additional funding for any reason, we may not be able to obtain such funding or, if funding is available, obtain it on acceptable terms. If we fail to make a payment on our debt, we could be in default on such debt, and this default could cause us to be in default on our other outstanding indebtedness. Any default on our debt could materially and negatively affect our results of operations, financial condition, reputation, credit ratings, and cost of borrowing. Our Credit Agreements Contain Covenant Restrictions That May Limit Our Ability to Operate Our Business We may be unable to respond to changes in business and economic conditions, engage in transactions that might otherwise be beneficial to us, or obtain additional financing because our debt agreements contain, and any of our other future similar agreements may contain, covenant restrictions that limit our ability to, among other things: •incur additional debt, assume obligations in connection with letters of credit, or issue guarantees; •create liens; •enter into transactions with our affiliates; •change the nature of our business; •sell certain assets; and •merge or consolidate with any person. Our ability to comply with these covenants is dependent on our future performance, which will be subject to many factors, some of which are beyond our control, including prevailing economic conditions. In addition, our failure to comply with these covenants could result in a default under the Senior Notes, or our other debt, which could permit the holders to accelerate such debt. If any of our debt is accelerated, we may not have sufficient funds available to repay such debt, which could materially and negatively affect our results of operations, financial condition, reputation, credit ratings, and cost of borrowing. There Can Be No Assurance That We Will Continue to Declare Cash Dividends or Repurchase Our Shares at All or in Any Particular Amounts Our Board of Directors has declared quarterly dividends since April 2014. Our intent to continue to pay quarterly dividends and to repurchase our shares is subject to capital availability and periodic determinations by our Board of Directors that cash dividends and share repurchases are in the best interest of our stockholders and are in compliance with all laws and agreements applicable to the declaration and payment of cash dividends or the repurchasing of shares by us. Future dividends and share repurchases may also be affected by, among other factors, our views on potential future capital requirements for investments in acquisitions and the funding of our research and development; legal risks; changes in federal, state, and international tax laws or corporate laws; contractual restrictions, such as financial or operating covenants in our debt arrangements; availability of onshore cash flow; the ability of our subsidiaries to provide sufficient funds for us; and changes to our business model or our priorities for the use of cash for other purposes. Our dividend payments and share repurchases may change from time to time, and we cannot provide assurance that we will continue to declare dividends or repurchase shares at all or in any particular amounts. A reduction or suspension in our dividend payments or share repurchases could have a negative effect on the price of our Common Stock. Lam Research Corporation 2026 10-K 27 Table of Contents If One or More of Our Counterparty Financial Institutions Default on Their Obligations To Us or Fail, We May Incur Significant Losses As part of our hedging activities, we enter into transactions involving derivative financial instruments, which may include forward contracts, option contracts, collars, and swaps with various financial institutions. In addition, we have significant amounts of cash, cash equivalents, and other investments on deposit or in accounts with banks or other financial institutions both in and outside of the United States. As a result, we are exposed to the risk of default by or failure of counterparty financial institutions, which may be heightened during economic downturns and periods of uncertainty or volatility in the financial markets. If one of our counterparties were to become insolvent or file for bankruptcy, our ability to recover losses incurred as a result of default, or our assets deposited or held in accounts with such counterparty, may be limited by the counterparty's liquidity or the applicable laws governing the insolvency or bankruptcy proceedings. In the event of default or failure of one or more of our counterparties, we could incur significant losses, which could negatively impact our results of operations, financial condition, and liquidity.