Guinness Global Innovators, an investment management company, recently released its Q2 2026 quarterly investor update for its “Guinness Global Innovators Fund”. You can download the letter here. The Guinness Global Innovators Fund focuses on investing in global companies that benefit from innovation in technology, communication, globalization, and management strategies. In the second quarter of 2026, the Guinness Global Innovators Fund returned 13.8% in GBP, compared with 13.0% for the MSCI World Index and 13.1% for the IA Global sector average. Easing Middle East tensions, falling oil prices, and renewed enthusiasm for artificial intelligence helped reverse much of the caution seen earlier in the year, with investors rotating back toward growth stocks and AI infrastructure beneficiaries. The Fund benefited from its overweight position in the Information Technology sector, while its overweight position in Communication Services detracted. Avoiding weaker Utilities, Materials, and Energy also supported relative performance. Also, please check the Fund’s top five holdings to see its best picks for 2026.
In its second-quarter 2026 investor letter, Guinness Global Innovators Fund highlighted Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX). Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) is a leading semiconductor equipment company that supplies semiconductor processing equipment used in the fabrication of integrated circuits. On August 21, 2026, Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) closed at $314.00 per share. The one-month return of Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) was 7.68%, while its shares gained 210.03% over the past 52 weeks. Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) has a market capitalization of $383.62 billion.
Guinness Global Innovators Fund stated the following regarding Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) in its Q2 2026 investor letter:
“The Fund holds three semiconductor equipment manufacturers, which provide wafer fabrication equipment (WFE). They were the top performers over the quarter: Applied Materials (+111.8% in USD) KLA (+105.2%), and Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) (+103.0%). WFE companies sit at the heart of the semiconductor value chain, supplying the highly specialised tools needed to manufacture advanced chips. As demand for AI, high-performance computing and data centre infrastructure has accelerated, foundries and integrated device manufacturers have responded with record levels of capital expenditure, driving a strong upcycle in WFE spending. The AI infrastructure build-out is particularly supportive, as hyperscalers require not only more chips, but increasingly complex and advanced architectures, materially increasing equipment intensity across the manufacturing process. As a result, these companies have been printing strong quarterly earnings reports. Lam, which specialises in etch and deposition, has been supported by accelerating DRAM and high-bandwidth memory demand, resilient China revenues, and faster-than-expected growth in its high-margin services business. Management has repeatedly raised its outlook for global WFE spending, framing the current cycle as supply-constrained rather than demand constrained, and extended their elevated growth outlook into 2026 and 2027. While valuations of WFE stocks have become more demanding following strong performance, the combination of structural AI demand, rising equipment intensity and highly recurring service revenues reinforces our conviction in these holdings as high-quality beneficiaries of the next tailwind to semiconductor growth.”
