NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) Oct. 14, 2004--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that the announcement by Fremont, Calif.-based Lam Research Corp. (BB-/Stable/--) that it had received board approval to purchase up to $250 million of the company's common stock over the next three years would not affect Lam's rating or outlook. Lam's financial flexibility recently has improved, the result of retiring the company's $300 million of convertible notes and ongoing strong levels of cash flow generation resulting from the strong up-cycle in etch capital spending. Cash levels post-retirement of the notes, as of Sept. 28, 2004, were $589 million, and the company is funded debt-free. EBITDA has increased sharply over the past six quarters, increasing to $127 million
