Lam Research

Lam Research is a leading supplier of wafer fabrication equipment to the semiconductor industry, with particular strength in etch and deposition tools that are essential to building advanced logic and memory chips. As transistor structures grow more complex, its systems have become deeply embedded in the manufacturing lines of the world's largest chipmakers. Lam pays a small but steadily growing dividend and has raised it for over a decade, funded by strong cash generation and complemented by large share buybacks. The yield is very low, in keeping with a cyclical growth stock where capital returns tilt toward repurchases. A solid score reflects reliable dividend growth tempered by the pronounced cyclicality of chip equipment demand.