Did LRCX, AMAT Stocks Get A Super Boost? Elon Musk Reportedly Demands ‘Light Speed’ From Terafab Project Suppliers

• Musk urged Terafab suppliers to move at “light speed,” signaling momentum behind Tesla’s AI chip-manufacturing plans.
• Tesla’s Terafab team reportedly contacted suppliers, including Applied Materials, Lam Research and Tokyo Electron for pricing and delivery timelines across chipmaking equipment.
• Terafab is expected to eventually deliver about one terawatt of annual compute capacity.

Shares of Lam Research (LRCX) and Applied Materials (AMAT) jumped in overnight trading early Thursday after Tesla CEO Elon Musk reportedly urged Terafab suppliers to move at “light speed,” signaling fresh momentum behind the EV maker’s AI chip-manufacturing push.

Shares of AMAT rose over 1% overnight, while LRCX gained 3% and TSLA climbed about 1% after the EV maker logged its best day in nearly 10 months on Wednesday.

Musk Pushes Terafab Suppliers At ‘Light Speed’

Staff working on Terafab, a joint initiative involving Tesla and SpaceX, have begun reaching out to semiconductor equipment suppliers, including Applied Materials, Lam Research, and Tokyo Electron, to request price quotes and delivery timelines for chipmaking tools across the production stack, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The outreach reportedly covered the full range of chipmaking infrastructure: photomasks, substrates, etching systems, deposition tools, cleaning equipment, and testing systems. The urgency has been notable; in at least one instance, a supplier was asked to provide estimates within days over a holiday weekend, with Musk's representatives emphasizing the need to move at "light speed."

The Terafab team also approached Samsung Electronics for support. However, Samsung responded by offering to allocate additional production capacity for Tesla at its Taylor, Texas, facility rather than joining the initiative directly. Intel, meanwhile, signaled its interest in participating following Musk's recent visit to its Santa Clara offices.

No firm orders have been placed, and key details, including technical specifications and chipmaking locations, remain unresolved, Bloomberg noted. The next immediate step is reportedly to build a pilot line capable of processing 3,000 wafers per month, with the broader goal of beginning silicon manufacturing by 2029 and scaling up from there.

The supplier outreach also comes after Tesla’s next-generation A15 AI chip platform reached tapeout, a key milestone as the company expands its in-house compute stack supporting autonomy, robotics and broader AI infrastructure initiatives.

Why LRCX And AMAT Are Key To Terafab Buildout

Lam Research develops etching and wafer-processing tools used across multiple stages of semiconductor manufacturing. Demand for wafer-fabrication equipment has already strengthened as chipmakers increase investment in their AI infrastructure.

Applied Materials, the largest U.S. supplier of semiconductor-manufacturing equipment, has also benefited from rising industry spending on AI computing and high-bandwidth memory capacity. 

Terafab Signals Scale Of Tesla’s AI Chip Plans

Terafab is planned as a vertically integrated semiconductor facility that Musk said could eventually deliver one terawatt of annual computing capacity.

The chips are expected to support workloads across Tesla’s vehicle autonomy stack, humanoid robotics programs and space-based infrastructure tied to xAI and SpaceX. Musk has called Terafab “the most epic chip-building exercise in history by far” and the “final missing piece of the puzzle” in Tesla’s long-term AI hardware strategy.

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said Terafab could help address future chip and memory supply constraints expected to shape the next phase of AI development, calling the initiative an early step toward Tesla’s long-term AI infrastructure strategy and a potential precursor to a future merger with SpaceX.

How Do Retail Traders Feel About LRCX, AMAT, TSLA?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for LRCX and AMAT was ‘bearish’ amid ‘high’ message volume, while sentiment toward TSLA was ‘extremely bullish’ with similarly ‘high’ activity levels.

Over the past year, LRCX has surged 290%, while AMAT has gained 173% and TSLA has advanced 54%.

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