Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

Micron reported better-than-expected quarterly results on Wednesday as the memory maker continues to benefit from soaring demand for AI infrastructure. The stock rose slightly in extended trading.

Here's how the company did relative to LSEG consensus:

Earnings per share: $33.42 adjusted vs. $31.61 expectedRevenue: $54.23 billion vs. $51.07 billion expectedRevenue almost quadrupled in the fiscal fourth quarter from $11.32 billion a year earlier, according to a statement.

For the fiscal first quarter, Micron said it expects revenue of about $61.5 billion and adjusted earnings per share of $38.15. Analysts polled by LSEG had expected $35.40 in adjusted earnings per share on $57 billion in revenue.

Micron's stock has soared more than 500% in the past year, benefiting from a worldwide supply crunch caused by historic levels of demand for memory chips needed for artificial intelligence models and workloads. The shortage has led to a spike in memory costs and resulted in increased prices for consumer electronics like Apple's iPads and MacBooks.

Hendi Susanto, portfolio at Gabelli Funds, said in an email after the release that it was "another strong beat and raise for Micron."

"At this point, I have not heard any negative data points pointing to the memory cycle reversing toward a decline anytime soon for the foreseeable future," Susanto wrote.

Micron is the only U.S.-based maker of high-bandwidth memory, HBM, made up of stacks of general-purpose dynamic random-access memory, or DRAM. Fourth-quarter DRAM revenue increased 343% from a year ago to $39.8 billion, representing 73% of total sales.

CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said on the earnings call that the company has a "strong roadmap for future HBM products" and is working with Nvidia on the industry's "first custom HBM implementation."

Net income in the latest quarter climbed to $37.7 billion, or $32.87 per share, from $3.2 billion, or $2.83 per share a year ago.

Advanced graphics and central processors from chip giants like Nvidia and AMD need increasing amounts of HBM to handle AI workloads, and the world's leading providers can't make enough.

That's why Micron is investing $250 billion to build two new campuses for making HBM. The largest broke ground in Clay, New York, in January, while its first new fab in Boise, Idaho, is scheduled to come online next year.

HBM leaders SK Hynix and Samsung are also in the midst of massive new HBM factory buildouts in their home country of South Korea. Micron holds the smallest HBM market share of the three, but its market cap has still topped $1.2 trillion.

Mehrotra participated in a summit on AI regulation hosted by President Donald Trump on Tuesday, days after attending a White House dinner with Chinese President Xi Jinping on his first visit to the U.S. in more than a decade.

On the call, Mehrotra said Micron increased compensation for every employee in fiscal 2026. Hundreds of Micron staffers threatened to strike at its factories in Taiwan over labor negotiations and pay. Similar strikes at rivals SK Hynix and Samsung have result in bonuses upwards of $500,000.

The semiconductor company had a fourth-quarter profit of $37.7 billion as its memory chips remained a hot commodity amid the build-out of artificial-intelligence infrastructure.

JHVEPhoto/iStock Editorial via Getty Images

Download this episode on Apple Podcasts/Spotify or listen below:

Transcript

Rena Sherbill: Welcome back, everybody, today I am happy to have on Steve Cress, as I'm sure you are all happy to hear from him.

The market is about to close. Micron (MU) is about to report.

It's a company that Steve has talked about. It's been an Alpha Pick for quite some time, as we discuss on YouTube's very own Wall Street Breakfast with Steve Cress.

Steve, what are you looking at when you're looking at earnings?

Steve Cress: Well, first thanks for having me today. Appreciate it.

And absolutely Micron is amongst one of the largest stocks that investors are focusing on. And today they report results, should be roughly within an hour. It's almost 3:30 Eastern Standard Time and just outside of New York. So Micron will be reporting shortly.

We have a really great tool at Seeking Alpha, an earnings calendar. And you simply find that by if you're on the main dashboard, you go to the market data page. And then within market data, you can click on earnings calendar. We have a bunch of other tables that are under market data from sectors, heat maps, growth versus value, market cap, commodities, bonds.

But one of the key ones is the earnings calendar. And you can bring it up by a monthly view or weekly view. And as you can see today, Wednesday, September 30th, Micron is reporting and if you scroll down below, you'll see there's Micron, Jabil (JBL), FactSet Research (FDS), Conagra (CAG).

But we're most interested in Micron because that is a big name. It is a quant name. We've had a strong buy on it for a long time. And the market is expecting good things out of it.

Fortunately, Micron had a really good beat last time on both a normalized and GAAP basis. There were eight beats and zero misses. So for the upcoming quarter on a normalized EPS basis, we're looking for $31.82. That's consensus. And consensus gap is $31.94. Literally a thousand percent growth.

In the last 90 days coming into this quarter, 12 analysts revised their estimates up, and two revised it down. For the full year, for the fiscal year, 13 analysts revised their estimates up. And only one revised it down. That's a C plus grade. So you would think 13 up one down is better than a C plus. It actually shows you what the sector median is. So 86% are analysts are expecting that the sector has good beats.

Where you can see for Micron, it's 92%. So that number is higher by about 7.84%. So that to me is pretty positive. Overall, that's only beause there are other companies where you have 20 analysts that have revised their estimates up and zero have revised it down.

But 13 to 1 is still really good in my book. Annual EPS estimates for August 2026 and August 2027, as well as revenue. And you could just take a look at the quarters too and look how many times they've beaten. They've beaten every time since the third quarter of 2023. So their business is just doing fantastic.

You can see how much of every time the beat gets a little bit better. And recently it's just been blown out of the water. I mean third quarter a year ago they came in at 32 cents. Then you could see if you look at the second quarter from a year ago, it came in at $1.56. The beat was by 14 cents.

So looking at the second quarter of this year, it went from a dollar fifty-six to twelve dollars and twenty cents. So this is just extreme in terms of how fast their EPS it's growing.

So what would I expect today? Well, let's go to our stock page. And you can see we have the quant with a strong buy. You can see all the key investment characteristics that we look at, valuation growth, profitability and momentum, all A pluses.

The only one that's a little bit lower is the analyst revisions. But as I said, that's 13 up, one down. I'll take that any day. The stock still looks really great from a fundamental perspective. I will say it is still significantly off its 52-week high.

So currently trading at $1,069. We could see that back in June, the stock was trading at around it looks like it's closer to about twelve hundred dollars. So that 52 week range is very wide at a low 165 and a high of 1255.

So it's still closer to the high side, but still significantly off its June highs. And for all intents and purposes, they're gonna have another quarter of record revenue and record earnings.

Rena Sherbill: Care to weigh in on what you imagine the market to look like after hours and then or maybe you know, pre-market and then maybe at open tomorrow. Just kind of your sense of like what the how the sector may move in conjunction with Micron.

Again, nobody has a crystal ball, even you, but based on your rich history in the markets.

Steve Cress: What we're looking at right now is we can see crude oil is up a little bit. And if we're really just looking one day out, Micron (MU) reports today, they could have record revenue and record earnings, and it's quite possible the stock can still come down.

Case in point when NVIDIA (NVDA) reported they had record revenue, record earnings, beat expectations, and the stock still came down that day.

So we're clearly in a market where sentiment gets a heavier weight than fundamentals and if sentiment is negative or anxiety is high, even on a day because of perhaps geopolitical events or movements in interest rates, the 10-year treasury or the 30-year treasury or economic data points that can come out.

All of it could impact and there'll probably be economic data points tomorrow that could impact the market.

But right now we're looking at gold a little bit higher.

And if we look at treasuries, we could see the 10-year treasury is a little bit higher too. So the market may not feel comfortable with that going into tomorrow.

It will look to Micron Technology to see what earnings are like.

My guess is with the 10-year treasury up a little bit now, and with Brent up 2% now, the market is actually up slightly on the day.

But what I'd like to do is actually show you the market data. And if we jump into sectors. So I've moved from the earnings calendar to sectors, and I'm just going to look at today and sort of by today's performance. You can actually see technology is the best performing sector with communication services right behind it.

Then the underperformers are consumer staples and healthcare, which traditionally are really safe haven sectors.

So the safe haven sectors aren't trading well today. A little bit more focused on the risk-on sectors. With having said that, within the risk-on sectors, it could be a little bit granular.

So, what I'm to do is look at themes and subsectors. And I'm going to go down to technology so I could see how technology is playing out today. So, overall, technology is the best performing sector. And within it, we see cybersecurity and semiconductors are outperforming within technology. The underperformers are blockchain, smartphones, and social media. Now that's just on the day.

So I'd say the market is fairly positive right now on the semiconductors. So perhaps if we do have a good number and we don't have an economic data point tomorrow that scares everybody, we could be in good shape if Micron beats today.

And going into the closing hours with less than a half hour to go, we can see Micron's up slightly. I think most people are expecting a beat. So it's gonna have to be a pretty good beat, I think, in order to move the needle.

SummaryMicron Technology, Inc. delivered a historic fiscal Q4, crushing expectations with record revenue and margin expansion driven by AI-fueled HBM and data center demand.MU's forward guidance leapfrogs consensus, with management securing HBM contracts through 2027 and projecting continued explosive growth into 2028.Despite its outstanding operational performance, MU trades cheaply at just 6.6x forward fiscal 2027 earnings, remaining fundamentally mispriced given its growth trajectory and robust cash generation.Don't forget, MU management is aggressively returning capital via buybacks and dividends while maintaining a pristine balance sheet and strong cost control.If the market takes MU stock back down like we saw this summer, pound the table. No signs of a slowdown operationally.Looking for a helping hand in the market? Members of BAD BEAT Investing get exclusive ideas and guidance to navigate any climate. Learn More » Nico De Pasquale Photography/DigitalVision via Getty Images

Make no mistake, the market has continued to pound the table for hard evidence that AI hyperscaler spending is actually translating into tangible financial results. We believe Micron Technology, Inc. (MU

45.26K Followers

Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have a beneficial long position in the shares of MU either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.

U.S. stocks are higher at midday Wednesday, led by technology and software shares, after softer-than-expected inflation data eased fears of another Federal Reserve rate hike.

Oil is climbing again, however, and long-dated Treasury yields remain close to multi-decade highs.

• United Therapeutics stock is charging ahead with explosive momentum. Why are UTHR shares rallying?

Trump said he offered Iran “nothing” on sanctions relief, according to media reports, pushing back on suggestions that Washington was ready to soften its stance.

The comments kept the geopolitical risk premium in crude alive. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose about 2.2% to $91.38 a barrel. Brent crude gained about 2.8% to $98.84.

The 10-year Treasury yield hovered near 5.3%, close to its highest level since 2007, with the 30-year yield topping 5.6% and reaching its highest level since June 2002.

The Personal Consumption Expenditures price index rose 0.3% in August, and the annual rate slowed to 3.4% versus the 3.7% forecast. Core PCE also came in cooler than expected.

Separately, ADP reported private payrolls rose by 90,000 in September, above the 68,000 consensus.

Traders now price in less than a 40% chance of a 25-basis-point rate hike in October, following the inflation data.

Across U.S. equity markets by midday Wednesday, gains were led by growth and chip-related shares, while defensives and rate-sensitive groups lagged.

The S&P 500 advanced 0.6% to 7,717, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed near 51,350.

The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.9% to 30,605. Within the Magnificent Seven stocks, Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) gained 3%, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) rose 2.4%, and NVIDIA Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) added 1.6%, while Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) dipped 0.7%.

The Russell 2000 rose 0.2% to 2,814.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) is due to report fiscal fourth-quarter results after the closing bell, with analysts expecting adjusted EPS of about $31.80 on revenue near $51.5 billion, while investors focus on the AI-driven HBM4 demand outlook, gross margins near 86%, and first-quarter revenue guidance.

Wednesday’s Performance In Major U.S. IndicesAccording to the Benzinga Pro platform:

The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:VOO) gained 0.6%. The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (NYSE:DIA) was flat. The Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) climbed 0.9%. The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) rose 0.2%. Software and Biotech Catch a Bid as Oil Names FirmThe best-performing S&P 500 sector was technology, with the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLK) up 1.2%. The Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLC) rose 0.8% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLE) gained 0.7%, while the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLY) and Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLB) were roughly flat.

On the downside, the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLRE) and the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLP) each fell 0.6%, the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLF) and the Industrials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLI) each lost 0.5%, the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLU) slipped 0.3% and the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLV) declined 0.2%.

Among industry funds, the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (BATS:IGV) rallied 1.8%, the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (NYSE:XBI) advanced 1.6% and the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (NYSE:XOP) climbed 1.7% alongside crude. The U.S. Global Jets ETF (NYSE:JETS) fell 1.3% as fuel costs rose.

Among corporate movers, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. (NYSE:HPE) rose 6.1% after announcing a $1.2 billion AMD Helios AI rack order from Vultr and lifting its networking outlook. FormFactor Inc. (NASDAQ:FORM) jumped 9.2% after Deutsche Bank initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $200 price target, citing the company’s position as a second-source probe-card supplier for Nvidia GPUs at TSMC.

Summit Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:SMMT) rose 6.8%, extending gains after AstraZeneca committed $2 billion via convertible preferred stock at an implied $18.36 per share, alongside positive ivonescimab survival data presented at ESMO and a Jefferies upgrade to Buy. Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) gained 6.5% after management raised its fiscal 2027 outlook earlier this week to revenue of $5.375-$5.475 billion; no fresh company news was identified today.

United Therapeutics Corp. (NASDAQ:UTHR) led the Russell 1000 with a 14.1% surge, but no confirmed company-specific catalyst could be found for today’s move.

On the downside, Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL) fell 6.9% despite fiscal fourth-quarter adjusted EPS of $4.40 versus the $4.06 estimate, revenue of $10.6 billion versus $9.69 billion and fiscal 2027 EPS guidance of $17.55 versus the $16.92 consensus. Peer Sanmina Corp. (NASDAQ:SANM) slid 5.7%; the only fresh item was a downgrade to Hold at Zacks Research, with no company-specific news identified.

Moderna Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) dropped 6.9% after Citi downgraded the stock to Sell, citing valuation following a rally of more than 200%, while raising its price target to $80. Annaly Capital Management Inc. (NYSE:NLY) lost 6% as Treasury yields held near multi-year highs, with the mortgage REIT breaking below technical support to a new 52-week low.

CarMax Inc. (NYSE:KMX) fell 5% even after reporting fiscal second-quarter EPS of $1.16 versus 64 cents a year earlier and sales of $7.9 billion, up 19%. Used-vehicle gross profit per unit declined $111 to $2,105; a consensus comparison could not be confirmed.

Wednesday’s Russell 1000 Top GainersWednesday’s Russell 1000 Top LosersPhoto: Shutterstock

© 2026 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

Michael Burry is back in the headlines as he challenges the bull narrative around artificial intelligence (AI) stocks. Recently, the famous investor covered his short positions in Nvidia (NVDA +1.50%), Micron Technology (MU -0.05%), and Palantir Technologies (PLTR +0.59%) and bought put options in each of these stocks.

If you only know of Burry from The Big Short, that makes sense. He is the doctor-turned-investor who noticed something peculiar in the subprime mortgage market years before Wall Street caught on. His claim to fame is buying credit default swaps that paid off when the housing market collapsed between 2008 and 2009.

That single trade still does most of the talking for Burry, but in reality his track record has been messier since 2008. He has been early, loud, and often wrong on timing as markets climbed while he warned about another crash. While Burry's ability to read filing is impressive, one famous call from 18 years ago is not a guarantee on the direction of artificial intelligence (AI) stocks today.

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Is AI a bubble? As hyperscalers continue to pour capital into chips and data centers at a pace not seen since the dot-com bubble, Burry is becoming increasingly concerned that AI euphoria could fuel a 1987-style crash. Moreover, growth investors are assuming unsustainable levels of leverage and momentum funds are piling into a crowded AI trade, pushing the S&P 500 to record levels. These factors are what has Burry arguing that an AI bubble might burst "sooner than later."

While I understand his point of view, I think seeing the AI revolution as the next dot-com bubble event is an apples-to-oranges comparison. Cisco was a very real business back in 2000. The stock only got crushed once customers decelerated the pace they were buying networking gear. This is a big reason why Burry harps on depreciation schedules and chip cycles. If Nvidia GPUs and the servers around them age faster than the books imply, then earnings will look prettier now relative to cash realities later.

Image source: Getty Images.

Micron is the other half of the chip supply chain. The stock has nearly tripled this year thanks to insatiable demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and DRAM. Tight supply in the memory market has allowed Micron to command lucrative pricing power, resulting in juicy gross margins and record profits for the company.

Burry's thesis is that the old boom-bust cycle of memory markets is changing, but AI is not "nearly different enough" to completely change the way memory makers should be priced. As Chinese supply ramps and new manufacturing facilities from Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron itself come online, Burry suggests supply will catch up with demand, which could lead to a predictable down cycle and a harsh sell-off.

Meanwhile, Burry is parroting an old bear narrative around Palantir, suggesting the company is not a true software services business and is really just a consulting firm.

All of these talking points and risk factors are only half-clean. Back in the late 1990s, many of the internet "darlings" had little revenue and no real path to sustained profitability. By contrast, Nvidia, Micron, and Palantir are leaders in selling hardware and software into real, recurring demand from big tech. Meanwhile, AI's biggest spenders -- Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta Platforms, and Oracle -- are collectively profitable; hence, they can continue funding their infrastructure buildouts.

GOOGL Net Income (TTM) data by YCharts

Burry has a potential conflict of interest In my eyes, there is an awkward incentive with Burry publishing his trades on social media. The investor writes a paid Substack newsletter under the name Cassandra Unchained. I'm not suggesting that his process of pouring over 10-Ks and footnotes doesn't have merit. But a very public bearish megaphone with a subscription fee attached is beneficial when everyday investors line up to hit the refresh button in anticipation of your next warning. Investors can respect Burry's homework while still noticing the business model at play here.

I think investors are best off taking forecasts from any prominent personality with a grain of salt. Burry and many others have been "the boy who cried wolf" often enough that copying their trades is not a viable strategy in the long-run. The more prudent move is the boring one: do your own due diligence by reading financial reports and listening to earnings calls. From there, investors can supplement external opinions they may hear or read about with their own personal sentiment before buying or selling a stock.

Adam Spatacco has positions in Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Palantir Technologies. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Cisco Systems, Meta Platforms, Micron Technology, Microsoft, Nvidia, Oracle, and Palantir Technologies. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The outlook for AI memory stocks remains bullish, according to Yaël Ossowski, who discusses Micron (MU) earnings just ahead of the report. "There's just not enough memory" to power AI demand, says Yaël, who points to "huge opportunities" Micron can use to leverage more pricing power.

Micron Stock Rises Ahead of Earnings as Memory Boom Shows Warning Signs Summary

Micron heads into earnings with investors watching whether cooling conventional memory prices can pressure its margins

Micron Technology MU shares rose 1% in morning trading Wednesday as investors prepared for the memory-chip maker's fiscal fourth-quarter results, with slowing gains in conventional memory prices emerging as a key issue.

The company has benefited from elevated memory prices and demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure. However, recent sales trends at memory producers with less exposure to high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, point to a possible moderation in demand outside AI applications.

Sara Awad of Tech Contrarians said conventional-memory performance may offer clues about the pricing environment supporting Micron's margins. DRAM pricing is expected to increase 13% to 18% in the quarter, according to TrendForce, a slower pace than earlier in 2026.

Additional Chinese production could add another challenge. CXMT is expected to increase monthly wafer starts toward 20,000 by year-end, while softer PC and smartphone demand may limit pricing power.

Micron's gross margin is therefore likely to draw attention. The company previously guided for about 86% in the fiscal fourth quarter, following an 84.6% result in the prior quarter. Investors may also focus on fiscal 2027 guidance for signs of how durable current memory conditions could be.

Disclosures I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and have no plans to buy any new positions in the stocks mentioned within the next 72 hours.

Click for the complete disclosure

Micron Technology shares MU rose 0.49% in trading on Wednesday as investors prepared for the memory-chip maker’s fiscal fourth-quarter results after the market close.

The results are expected to show another sharp increase in revenue and earnings, but investors are likely to focus on Micron’s outlook for fiscal 2027 and whether strong artificial intelligence demand can sustain elevated memory prices and margins.

Analysts expect Micron to report fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of $31.61 per share on revenue of $51.07 billion, according to LSEG estimates.

Bloomberg’s average estimates put fiscal fourth-quarter net income at $36 billion on sales of $51.5 billion. That would represent increases of more than 1,000% and 350%, respectively, from a year earlier.

Gross margin is expected to reach 86%, compared with 46% in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025.

Micron previously guided for an adjusted gross margin of about 86%, which would be a company record.

The company’s strong profitability reflects rising memory prices as demand from AI infrastructure has increased while supply remains constrained.

Micron has also been expanding its high-bandwidth memory business. The company is already shipping HBM4 and expects HBM4E to enter volume production in calendar 2027.

The main question for investors is whether Micron can maintain its current pricing power and profitability as additional memory capacity comes online.

The company has benefited from strong spending on AI infrastructure, which has absorbed memory supply and supported higher prices.

Utkarsh Ahuja, founder and managing partner at Moon Pursuit Capital, told Invezz that the focus should extend beyond Micron’s quarterly results to how management discusses HBM demand, pricing and gross margins for 2027.

“Expectations for Micron are already incredibly high, so a strong quarter on its own probably won’t tell investors very much,” Ahuja said. He noted that AI infrastructure spending has driven strong demand for HBM and advanced DRAM, while supply constraints have allowed Micron to increase pricing and margins.

Ahuja said the company’s commentary on 2027 could provide a clearer indication of how much room remains in the current cycle.

Ravi Tanuku, CEO of NTAQ SPAC, told Invezz that the broader AI infrastructure outlook is increasingly tied to the availability of power needed to support new data-center capacity.

“The AI infrastructure debate is increasingly becoming a power debate,” Tanuku said, pointing to questions over whether generation, interconnects and transmission can expand quickly enough to support planned data-center growth.

He said this could have implications for semiconductor demand, as the outlook for chips increasingly depends on the pace of actual power deployment.

For Micron specifically, Tanuku said he will be watching forward customer commitments, particularly whether customers are willing to lock in HBM volumes and pricing several years ahead.

He said longer-term commitments could indicate confidence in both AI demand and the ability to bring the underlying computing and power infrastructure online.

Conversely, shorter commitments or delayed deployments could signal that power availability, rather than demand, is becoming a constraint.

He also highlighted the potential impact of new memory capacity coming online across the industry.

Micron and other memory manufacturers are investing billions of dollars to expand capacity, which could eventually increase supply and put pressure on pricing and margins.

However, Ahuja said the traditional memory cycle could play out differently if AI workloads continue to absorb new capacity.

“If demand continues absorbing new capacity as quickly as it comes online, these economics can hold for longer than investors might expect from a traditional memory cycle,” he said. “If supply starts catching up, Micron can still grow very strongly while pricing and margins begin to come back down.”

However, the stock remains 12% below its June 25 peak.

The memory industry’s historical boom-and-bust cycles remain a consideration for investors.

Micron currently trades at about seven times expected earnings over the next 12 months, compared with roughly 10 times over the past two years and 19 times for the S&P 500.

Micron’s strategic customer agreements are another area investors are expected to monitor.

The agreements cover DRAM, including HBM where applicable, as well as NAND, with binding commitments for specified volumes over multiple years.

Some agreements also include price floors and ceilings.

Micron had disclosed 16 strategic customer agreements as of its June earnings report and later announced deals with General Motors, Ford and several major automotive suppliers.

The company expects roughly half or more of its revenue to eventually fall under these agreements.

Investors will also be looking for guidance on HBM, DRAM and NAND demand, supply growth and pricing for fiscal 2027.

Bloomberg estimates that revenue growth could slow to 96% in fiscal 2027 from 247% in fiscal 2026, before slowing further to 12% in fiscal 2028.

That outlook leaves the durability of Micron’s current earnings as a key issue for investors.

Strong AI demand and constrained supply could support pricing, while faster supply growth could put pressure on margins and reinforce concerns about the cyclical nature of the memory market.

Micron Technology (MU +0.71%) is in the middle of one of the biggest technology shifts in decades. As artificial intelligence drives demand for advanced memory and new technologies emerge, Micron could be building one of the world's most important businesses over the next five years.

Image source: Getty Images.

AI is transforming Micron's long-term growth outlook The memory industry in which Micron operates has been highly cyclical for decades. Demand for memory chips rose when tech companies ramped up production of their devices, leading memory makers to build more foundries. But demand fell when those buyers built up too much inventory, or when supply caught up to and exceeded demand, at which point prices slumped.

This dynamic has left Micron's earnings extremely sensitive to changes in supply and demand.

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But today, the AI trend is rewriting the rules, and has completely reshaped Micron's long-term outlook. The company produces high bandwidth memory (HBM), a specialized form of memory that is used heavily in conjunction with AI processors from chipmakers such as Nvidia.

Data stored in HBM can be accessed rapidly, enabling today's cutting-edge chips to operate at peak efficiency. Due to the nature of AI workloads and the recent advances on the compute side, memory has become just as important as processing power for data centers.

That opportunity is already driving real growth for Micron. For example, in its fiscal 2026 third quarter (which ended May 28), it reported $41.5 billion in revenue -- up from $9.3 billion a year earlier -- driven by strong demand across its business. Its latest HBM4 products are already shipping in high volumes for a leading customer's platform, while the company is developing next-generation HBM4E products for expected volume production in 2027.

Moreover, Micron's opportunity extends beyond hardware to support the training of advanced AI models. As more businesses deploy AI agents, assistants, and other applications, the infrastructure required to run these systems could become another major driver of memory demand.

Micron understands just how huge this opportunity is, and it's taking steps to expand its manufacturing capacity to meet the rising demand. How effectively it does that could determine just how much of the memory market's growth Micron captures over the next five years.

Micron is investing heavily to meet future demand One of Micron's biggest challenges is making enough memory. Demand today is well outpacing the available supply from the company and its peers, giving it strong pricing power.

To address this shortage, Micron is expanding its manufacturing footprint. In July, it increased its planned U.S. investments to more than $250 billion through 2035, including new facilities in New York and Idaho. Its long-term goal is to manufacture 40% of its DRAM in the U.S.

Its first Idaho factory is expected to begin producing wafers in mid-2027, and a second facility there is scheduled to come online in late 2028. Meanwhile, construction is underway on its New York manufacturing complex, which could accommodate four new factories.

These investments could allow Micron to capture a larger share of the AI memory market while it strengthens its relationships with big tech companies in the U.S. International expansion has also been a bright spot. Micron's advanced packaging facility in Singapore is expected to contribute meaningfully to its HBM supply beginning in 2027.

Although Micron is ramping up production of its current memory products, management is already looking beyond today's roadmap.

Micron is investing in technologies beyond today's AI boom Last month, the company announced plans to launch Micron Research Labs. It expects to invest $10 billion over the next decade in the research arm, which will focus on future memory technologies, advanced computing, and next-generation manufacturing.

Plus, the company launched its $250 million Paradigm Fund, its largest venture fund to date. Paradigm will invest in emerging technologies ranging from next-generation AI models and compute infrastructure to robotics and enterprise applications. The launch brings Micron Ventures' total capital commitment to $550 million.

In other words, beyond betting on the current memory cycle, Micron is investing in technologies that could shape the design and production of future memory products. That could leave the company more future-proof five years from now, especially as AI systems become even more complex.

Should investors buy Micron stock today? AI is driving almost insatiable demand for high-performance memory, and Micron is just one of the three major manufacturers capable of making it worldwide. The company is also investing in developing next-generation HBM, new manufacturing capacity, and new technologies to keep its technology cutting-edge. If those investments pay off, Micron could find itself even more important to the AI supply chain.

Since stocks tend to move in lockstep with their net income growth, to estimate where Micron stock could trade in five years, we need to look at how much the company might earn then.

Today, Micron trades at a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 6.8.

Bank of America's analyst, currently the most bullish of the bunch covering the memory maker, expects Micron's EPS to top $230 by 2030. At today's forward multiple, that would suggest a stock price of approximately $1,566. Of course, if its EPS really does hit that earnings target, the cyclicality discount the market has long put on Micron will likely have eroded as investors come to recognize that the memory business has become steadier. In that case, it could be trading at a forward P/E in the 15 to 20 range rather than in the high single digits.

Assuming a midpoint forward P/E of 17 and EPS between $150 and $230 per share, investors could look forward to Micron trading at a share price between $2,550 and $3,910 by 2031. From today's price near $1,054, that's as much as 271% upside.

Of course, those figures depend on Micron continuing to deliver solid earnings growth and avoiding another brutal downturn triggered by an oversupply of memory chips. But even the most conservative outcome in this forecast range would make it one of the best stocks to hold over the next five years.

NVIDIA is up 23% this year, but Micron and SanDisk have left it in the dust with gains that few analysts thought possible. Now Wall Street is drawing a roadmap to prices that would require the whole cycle to repeat…

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NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA | NVDA Price Prediction) CEO Jensen Huang summed up this cycle in six words: “Now, compute is revenue.” That compute runs on memory, which explains why Micron (NASDAQ:MU) and SanDisk (NASDAQ:SNDK) have outrun even NVIDIA.

So far this year, NVIDIA is up 23.54%, Micron has gained 264.75%, and SanDisk has risen 608.7%. All three now have multi-year customer commitments behind them.

Here’s how NVIDIA could reach $400, Micron $2,000, and SanDisk $3,000 in 2027.

Wall Street Already Sees Up to 46% Upside, and Estimates Keep Climbing The consensus targets are $327.70 for NVIDIA (42.6% upside), $1,515.54 for Micron (45.7%), and $2,136.54 for SanDisk (27%).

Estimates keep moving higher. NVIDIA’s fiscal 2028 EPS estimate is $15.6826, up from $12.6737 90 days ago. Micron’s fiscal 2027 estimate went from $117.8618 to $156.5298. SanDisk’s went from $188.8767 to $213.903.

The three have also exceeded expectations for several quarters running: five in a row for NVIDIA, seven for Micron and five for SanDisk. That record suggests the forecasts are still too low.

Here’s the Valuation Math Behind $400, $2,000, and $3,000 Stock Price Next-Year EPS Est. Forward P/E Now P/E at Target NVIDIA $229.86 $15.6826 15x 26x Micron $1,040.40 $156.5298 7x 13x SanDisk $1,682.31 $213.903 8x 14x The S&P 500 trades at about 21x to 23x forward earnings. Even at these bull-case prices, Micron and SanDisk would still trade well below the market multiple, and NVIDIA would sit only slightly above it.

What Could Push All Three to Their Targets? Demand that outruns supply: NVIDIA expects “to grow revenue by approximately 70% in fiscal 2028,” and it calls that a supply-constrained outlook. Management expects Vera Rubin to be “the fastest product ramp in NVIDIA’s history.” Rising memory prices: NVIDIA said memory price increases “are headed even higher into next year.” Micron expects tight conditions “to persist beyond calendar 2027.” Contracted revenue floors: Micron has signed 16 Strategic Customer Agreements, and 14 of them carry about $100 billion in minimum-price revenue. SanDisk’s agreements guarantee at least $93.9 billion. Hyperscaler spending: The top five hyperscalers are expected to spend nearly $800 billion in 2026 and $1.3 trillion in 2027 on capital projects. Buybacks: NVIDIA just announced its largest buyback expansion ever, according to the New York Times. SanDisk has $15.5 billion left under its repurchase authorization. All that hyperscaler capex has to be powered, cooled, and networked by someone other than the chipmakers, and we rounded up seven of those infrastructure suppliers in a free report you can grab here.

Past Returns Show These Gains Aren’t Out of Reach The targets require increases of 74% for NVIDIA, 92% for Micron and 78% for SanDisk. In the past year alone, Micron returned 564.47% and SanDisk returned 1,684.19%. NVIDIA is up 945.55% over five years.

Memory is still a cyclical business, and the stocks swing hard. Today alone, SanDisk fell 5.37% as AI stocks slipped.

Bottom Line: Three Stretch Targets With a Clear Blueprint To get there, all three need Wall Street’s upside plus more. They are growing into that. Estimates are rising, the beat runs are intact, and signed contracts put a floor under revenue.

A weaker market or an earlier-than-expected memory supply catch-up would make the targets harder to reach. Micron’s CEO put the long-term view simply: “AI is still in very, very early innings.” Such returns won’t happen every year, but we’ve laid out how NVIDIA, Micron, and SanDisk could deliver outsized returns in 2027.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Micron (MU +0.27%) and Sandisk (SNDK +0.10%) have been two of the best-performing stocks in the entire market during 2026. Sandisk is the top-performing stock in the S&P 500 (^GSPC +0.36%), up over 600% so far this year. Micron is now the fourth-best-performing stock, up by around 270%.

Normally, when investors see returns like that in the immediate past, they get a bit concerned about what the future holds, since it's rare for stocks to sustain that level of growth. However, with the massive demand these two are seeing for their technology, I think now is still the perfect time to invest in them.

The reality is that the market is not pricing Micron and Sandisk as if it expects them to keep growing beyond this year. I think that could be a mistake, because several well-connected businesses project otherwise.

Image source: Getty Images.

Sandisk and Micron play a key role in data centers Sandisk and Micron make memory chips. Both of them make NAND memory, which is often used for longer-term data storage. Solid-state drives (SSDs) use NAND memory, and are one of the go-to data storage choices for data centers. Micron also makes DRAM memory, while Sandisk does not. DRAM memory is used inside computing units for rapid information access and is also in high demand. And in particular, Micron make high-bandwidth memory (HBM) -- a type of DRAM widely used in data centers, and embedded on AI accelerator chips and graphics processing units (GPUs). 

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There are only a handful of memory-chip foundry companies, and as a group, their combined capacity is far from enough to keep up with the biggest wave of computing demand ever experienced -- though all are now building more chip production facilities in a bid to meet more of that demand. However, Micron told investors last quarter that it doesn't see the "tightness" in the memory chip market easing until sometime after 2027. The market has taken that guidance, assuming that this will be when memory chip makers see a major decline in demand, and the historically cyclical nature of that chip market will reassert itself.

However, I don't think that's the right way of looking at it.

Right now, both Sandisk and Micron have elevated margin profiles -- since demand for memory chips far exceeds the world's production capacity for them, they are able to charge pretty much whatever they want. While new production capacity is being built, its arrival will not signal the end of the boom times for these two. The reality is that the artificial intelligence build-out will last for several years more, and that Micron and Sandisk's production capacities will be used at high levels throughout, allowing these companies to maximize profit margins just like they would during any previous demand spike.

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This will result in several years of strong profits for these two companies, and I think investing in them now will deliver solid returns.

Both stocks could triple over the next year Sandisk's fiscal year ends in June, while Micron's wraps up in August. So, next year's earnings projections provide a good basis for calculating where the stocks could be by the end of 2027.

Right now, Sandisk and Micron each trade at a respectable 24 times earnings.

MU PE Ratio data by YCharts.

That's neither a high nor a low valuation, and would be just right for many stocks.

However, relative to next year's earnings projections, these stocks look dirt cheap.

MU PE Ratio (Forward) data by YCharts.

If each of them continues to trade at 24 times trailing earnings as their bottom lines grow toward their projected levels, by the end of their respective fiscal years

Sandisk would have to grow by 189%. For Micron to have a P/E of 24 after the earnings it anticipates will require 253% growth over the next year.

So, if you evenly split a $10,000 investment between these two right now and the projections above pan out, those positions will be worth over $32,000, with $14,457 coming from Sandisk and $17,647 coming from Micron.

Those are simply incredible returns, and the key reason that you can look forward to them is that right now, the market is pessimistic about these two companies' future. However, based on the premise that AI infrastructure demand will remain elevated for multiple years longer, I think that the market has nothing to fear here, and that investors should buy Sandisk and Micron stock hand over fist.

Stock futures are hovering near unchanged after two straight days of losses for major indexes; the Fed's preferred measure of inflation is due this morning; Micron is scheduled to release results after the closing bell; Boeing shares are rising after it was selected to build a new Navy fighter; and shares of Cal-Maine Foods are sinking as falling egg prices weighed on the company's latest results. Here's what you need to know today.

Michael Burry just swapped unlimited-horizon short positions for expiring put contracts on Micron, accepting a hard deadline to be right before a stock up 550% in a year reports earnings in hours.

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Micron (NASDAQ:MU | MU Price Prediction) shares sit at $1,065.08 after rising 1.05% in the September 29, 2026 session. That was a calm response to news that Michael Burry, the investor made famous by The Big Short, now holds puts against the stock.

Burry told subscribers on September 28, 2026, that put options had replaced his short positions. His Micron contracts expire in June with a strike of roughly $500.

A put gains value when the stock falls. The strike is the level the stock must fall below for the put to pay off at expiration, and buying puts struck this far below the market is a leveraged position on a steep decline.

Timing is the issue, because Micron reports after the close on September 30, 2026, following a year-to-date gain of 273.41% and a one-year gain of 550.89%.

Burry Traded Open-Ended Shorts for a Deadline Burry wrote, “As of today, put options completely replaced my short positions.” Weekend research convinced him “the bubble in AI may burst sooner than later,” and “Fundamentally, I am moving timelines up. As such, I want more leverage.”

A short sale has no expiration date. A put expires worthless unless the stock falls below the strike in time, but limits the loss to the premium paid.

He has bought leverage and accepted a deadline. Being early looks exactly like being wrong, and his record includes one famous housing call plus several bearish calls that arrived early. Riding a mania and knowing when to leave it are two different skills, something we spent a whole free handbook on here: The Bubble Survivor’s Handbook.

A Position Against AI Spending Broadly He also bought puts on Nebius (NASDAQ:NBIS), NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA), Palantir (NASDAQ:PLTR), the iShares Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SOXX), Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) and Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT), plus Nasdaq-100 index puts, while covering his CoreWeave (NASDAQ:CRWV) short and opening a bearish position on MetLife (NYSE:MET).

Micron is the memory expression of that view. The bear case needs high-bandwidth memory pricing to roll over, since valuation alone does not reduce a supplier’s earnings.

What Micron Must Clear on September 30 Thirty-one analysts expect EPS of $31.35 on revenue of $50.97 billion for the quarter ended August 31, 2026, against guidance midpoints of $50 billion and $31.00.

The following quarter sets a higher bar, with consensus at $34.95 in EPS on $56.85 billion in revenue.

Barchart noted options pricing showed a “very strong bearish skew,” meaning traders paid more for downside protection than upside exposure.

Most of Wall Street Sits Across From Burry Analysts count 9 strong buys, 35 buys, 4 holds and 0 sells, with a consensus target of $1,520.76. JPMorgan is Overweight with a $1,540 target and says Micron has “multiple beat-and-raise levers still in play.” Baird raised its target to $1,520 from $1,280.

Management said in June that 14 of its 16 take-or-pay Strategic Customer Agreements carry about $100 billion in total revenue at minimum contract prices, with price floors through the term.

Should You Buy or Sell MU Stock Micron trades at 7 times forward earnings. Burry’s puts need a slide to about $500 by June, a pricing collapse those contracted floors were written to hold out.

For holders of NVIDIA or a semiconductor fund, Micron compounds the same AI exposure Burry is targeting, which concentrates risk in a sharp drawdown.

The test arrives on September 30, 2026. A soft outlook would favor Burry. A November-quarter outlook below the $56.85 billion consensus, or evidence of hyperscaler spending digestion, would do so, while management’s June view that supply remains tight beyond calendar 2027 helps the bulls until guidance says otherwise.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Micron (MU) reports earnings after Wednesday's closing bell as the unofficial close to earnings season. Rick Ducat analyzes the technical trends he sees in the AI memory chipmaker's stock chart and shows key levels to watch following the company's report.

Micron Technology (MU +1.05%) has been one of the market's hottest stocks over the past year, up nearly 600% through the last week of September. However, this may be a case of an artificial intelligence (AI) stock getting too far ahead of itself in a short period of time. As of this writing, you can buy one share of the company for around $1,080.

Micron is one of the big three memory makers along with its Korean counterparts SK Hynix (SKHY +2.62%) and Samsung. It gets about 75% of its revenue from DRAM (dynamic random access memory) and 25% from NAND. Prices for both types of memory have been skyrocketing, which is causing Micron's revenue and gross margins to soar.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

Riding the memory supercycle Historically, memory goes through large boom-and-bust cycles, where strong demand drives prices up, only to be followed by increased capacity that causes prices to collapse. The current memory cycles, however, seem a little different.

Both DRAM and NAND prices are currently being driven by strong demand from AI data centers and by the big three memory makers putting most of their efforts toward high-margin, high-bandwidth memory (HBM). HBM is a special form of DRAM that gets packaged with graphics processing units (GPUs) and other chips to reduce latency and improve performance.

Demand is through the roof and has become one of the biggest bottlenecks in AI, with the major AI semiconductor companies scrambling to lock in longer-term deals to secure future supply. Meanwhile, NAND is also in high demand as frontier model companies need enormous numbers of solid-state drives (SSDs) with flash memory to store their massive amounts of AI training data.

HBM supply is currently constrained because it is competing for the same extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) machines that advanced chips like GPUs need in their manufacturing process. At the same time, HBM requires around three times the wafer capacity as ordinary DRAM. With the big-three memory makers throwing most of their resources at increasing HBM capacity, this has ironically led to conventional DRAM and NAND prices rising much more than already high-priced HBM prices.

This has benefited Micron, which, among the big three memory makers, derives the least revenue from HBM. As such, its revenue has skyrocketed, and gross margins have expanded much faster than rival SK Hynix, the HBM market leader.

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Where could Micron trade at in 5 years? Analysts aren't expecting Micron's cyclicality to go away, but they also aren't anticipating a huge bust cycle like in the past, when earnings would turn negative. Backed by continued strong demand for memory from AI and longer-term contracts, this memory cycle is different, but it hasn't completely changed. Meanwhile, as one of the big three memory makers with the least percentage of revenue coming from HBM, Micron is more exposed when ordinary DRAM and NAND prices start to pull back.

Analysts currently project that Micron's earnings will peak in fiscal 2028 (ending August 2030) at over $180 per share. The consensus then sees earnings troughing at $48.21 in fiscal 2030, then moderately climbing from there.

Micron currently trades at a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) of just 6.8 times fiscal 2027 analyst estimates. That is typical of what the company trades at near peak earnings. In a more ordinary earnings environment, I'd expect the stock to trade closer to a 12-times to 15-times multiple. The consensus currently projects that Micron will generate around $50 in earnings in fiscal 2031, though that estimate is based on only one Wall Street analyst.

Based on that, I'd expect the stock to trade between $600 and $750 in five years, which is where a $1,080 investment would also drop to in this scenario. Of course, if memory stops being cyclical or the earnings floor is raised, Micron's earnings and stock price could be higher in five years.

That said, Micron is the most commoditized of the big-three memory makers, which is why I'd prefer HBM leader SK Hynix in the space over the long term.

Archer Aviation (ACHR -2.69%) could very well be the future of transportation and a stock that will someday make its investors a lot of money.

That was the lure for me -- that and its cheap entry price of under $7 per share -- when I bought shares on the dip late last year. I knew at the time that this was a long-term play, that the fledgling autonomous electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft manufacturer was still in the testing phase, seeking regulatory approvals for commercial operations, and still burning cash, ramping up its technology and fleet.

It still is, and could still very well be a great stock down the road, although the days of being a profitable company are still years away, making it a more speculative play.

But I decided to cash out and put that money toward a no-brainer play in the middle of a memory chip stock supercycle -- Micron Technology (MU +1.05%).

Image source: Getty Images.

Micron is trading up 275% year to date There aren't too many better places to invest your money than Micron right now. The stock has been on a ridiculous run, up 582% over the past 12 months and more than 275% year to date. It was trading at around $340 per share at the start of the year, and now it is at roughly $1,072 per share.

The catalyst has been an insatiable demand for its high bandwidth memory chips. In the fiscal third quarter, revenue grew 74% sequentially and 346% year over year, while earnings rose 105% sequentially and 205% year over year. It raised its guidance for fourth-quarter earnings, which will be reported on Sept. 30.

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Micron is already sold out of its high bandwidth memory chips for 2026 and 2027, with "tight conditions to persist beyond calendar 2027," CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said on the Q2 earnings call, due to high demand and supply constraints. It has secured $100 billion in contracted agreements through 16 long-term agreements announced last quarter that run through 2030 -- and we will likely see more announced in the coming quarters.

Micron stock is still a great value Even after such an incredible run, Micron stock is still cheap, trading at 24 times earnings, 7 times forward earnings, and a 0.16 price-to-earnings-to-growth (PEG) ratio, which makes it a deep-value long-term hold.

That, to me, made Micron stock too hard to pass up. When you combine the insatiable demand driven by the AI build-out with the pricing power from supply constraints and the long-term contracts to fill its pipeline, Micron should be an earnings machine for years to come.

The earnings power, in fact, is so strong that the market hasn't even full recognized it yet, and for a stock that has returned 554% over the past year, that's kind of hard to believe.

So, while there may be room in your portfolio for both Archer and Micron, along with others, I decided to go make a bigger play on Micron, given its earnings power, market position, and incredible value.

Investing in Micron (MU +1.80%) one year ago would have turned $1,000 into $6,690 by now. When those types of returns happen, some investors may believe they've missed out on the opportunity, but Micron is still in a position to mint new millionaires.

While a 10x return is a tough ask for a $1 trillion company, it's feasible for this chipmaker to continue outperforming the S&P 500.

Image source: Getty Images.

Micron's financial performance justifies the soaring stock price Micron isn't a hype stock. Fundamentals are driving the rally that has resulted in the chipmaker crushing the S&P 500 over the past year. Revenue more than quadrupled year over year in the company's fiscal 2026 third quarter, and its net profit margin soared to 68%.

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That growth rate actually surpasses Micron's 280% year-to-date stock gains. As long as a company's revenue and net income outpace its year-to-date share price gains, its stock should have more room to rally, especially if it trades at a reasonable valuation.

That's most certainly the case for Micron. The stock trades at a forward P/E ratio of only 7. Not only does it have a lower valuation than most tech stocks, but it also has a lower valuation than most financial stocks -- unusual for a hypergrowth tech company.

Micron anticipates multiyear growth Earlier in the year, investors grew concerned that chipmakers' share prices would eventually correct sharply as artificial intelligence (AI) demand slowed down. Chipmakers have long been cyclical businesses, and memory-chip makers in particular, but the numerous multiyear customer deals that Micron and its peers have signed recently have completely changed that narrative.

Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said that these agreements will "significantly enhance the durability and predictability" of Micron's financial performance.

The chipmaker also anticipates $50 billion in fiscal 2026 fourth-quarter revenue at the midpoint of its guidance range. That implies a 21% sequential growth rate -- after revenue more than quadrupled year over year in the prior quarter.

Investors will discover how accurate that guidance was when Micron reports its fiscal Q4 earnings on Sept. 30.

The company previously had guided for $33.5 billion in fiscal third-quarter revenue, but smashed that forecast by delivering $41.46 billion in sales. A similar beat to wrap up Micron's fiscal 2026 might trigger another rally and help the stock reclaim the all-time high it touched in June.

Multiyear tailwinds from the AI build-out position Micron for market-beating returns. It has already sold all of the memory chips that it will be able to produce through 2027, giving it immense pricing power for future supply. That same backlog ensures the memory chip shortage will persist in the years ahead, much to the benefit of Micron investors.

Key Takeaways MU is on deck to report results on Wednesday, September 30th. Immense growth thanks to the AI buildout have kept it at the forefront of market commentary. DRAM and NAND results reflect the obvious metrics to watch, with the pricing environment similarly crucial. Memory giant Micron Technology (MU - Free Report) is set to report its quarterly results after the market’s close this Wednesday, September 30th. The release will undoubtedly draw heavy attention given the massive momentum around the company, with Micron reflecting one of the strongest plays on the AI frenzy in 2026.

Micron’s previous quarter brought record results again, and the company also provided a highly bullish growth outlook for the upcoming release. Given the importance of the print, let’s take a look at a few key metrics to keep an eye out for.

DRAM ExpectationsAs expected, Micron's DRAM results will be a major focus, with demand for high-bandwidth memory remaining red-hot from the ongoing AI infrastructure buildout. Our consensus estimate for DRAM sales stands at $38.3 billion, suggesting roughly a triple-digit 330% YoY growth rate from the same period last year.

The company has regularly crushed our consensus DRAM estimates in recent periods, stringing together five consecutive beats.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The favorable pricing environment will also be key to watch, with improved supply-demand dynamics across the memory landscape providing a big boost to Micron’s results. The strength has flowed directly into profitability, with management guiding for a roughly 86% gross margin in the upcoming release.

NAND ExpectationsNAND results are similarly worth investors’ attention because they reveal demand for enterprise storage and serve as a secondary engine for Micron's overall growth amid the favorable environment. The current Zacks Consensus estimate calls for $12.3 billion in sales, good enough for roughly 435% YoY growth.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Headline ExpectationsThe overall growth picture remains red-hot, with the current Zacks Consensus sales estimate sitting at $50.9 billion, reflecting roughly 350% YoY growth. Adjusted earnings are expected to come in at $31.45 per share, soaring from the $3.03 per share reported in the year-ago period.

Micron has consistently been a stellar earnings performer thanks to the demand backdrop, exceeding the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate by an average of roughly 21% across its last four releases. Both EPS and sales expectations for the upcoming release have trended modestly higher over recent months.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Bottom Line

Micron’s (MU - Free Report) upcoming release will be closely watched given the massive growth the company has enjoyed alongside the AI infrastructure boom. DRAM results will undoubtedly take center stage, though NAND growth, memory pricing, and the company’s outlook will also be key areas to watch. With Micron coming off record results and expectations calling for another quarter of explosive growth, the release should provide an important look into whether its AI-driven momentum can remain red-hot.

SK Hynix is surging while Seagate slides and Micron barely budges, and that split inside the memory trade raises a question worth answering before the next move arrives.

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Memory stocks have a clear leader in SK Hynix (NASDAQ:SKHY), and the fund built around that corner of the chip market is moving right along with it. SK Hynix stock is up 3% to $187.13 in afternoon trading, adding to a 16% climb over the past month for the South Korean company’s U.S.-listed American depositary shares.

The Roundhill Memory ETF (CBOE:DRAM) is up 2%, tracking in the same direction as SK Hynix. Meanwhile, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY) is down 0.3%, so the memory group is rising while the broad market is slightly lower.

Two other names in the memory and storage complex, Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU | MU Price Prediction) and Seagate Technology Holdings (NASDAQ:STX), are telling a more mixed story. Micron stock is up 1% to $1068.59, a far smaller gain than the leader’s. Meanwhile, Seagate stock is falling 2% to $903.40, the weakest showing among the three.

What the Memory Fund Says About SK Hynix SK Hynix stock carried a 24.22% weighting in the Roundhill fund as of its May 11 fact sheet, with Micron stock close behind at 23.83%. That concentration ties the fund closely to SK Hynix and Micron, while SanDisk (NASDAQ:SNDK) and Seagate sit much further down its holdings list. Money flowing into the fund therefore lands heavily in SK Hynix and Micron by design.

Demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure has driven SK Hynix’s growth and given the company pricing power across its product lines. A Barron’s report tied a pullback in Micron stock to AI jitters. Against that background, the advance in SK Hynix stock suggests the HBM story is finding its grip on the memory trade.

Micron and Seagate Split From the Leader Micron’s modest gain stands out because the company sits beside SK Hynix in both the Roundhill fund and the HBM story, yet when Micron stock barely keeps pace with a name closely tied to it, the group isn’t confirming the move with conviction. Stronger follow-through from Micron would have made the case for a broad memory rally far easier to argue.

Seagate sells mass-capacity hard drives, a different corner of storage from the memory chips that SK Hynix and Micron produce. That product split may explain why Seagate stock is lower while the memory names climb, even as AI data centers feed demand for both.

Over the past month, the picture looks far more unified, with Micron stock up 15% and Seagate stock up 9%. All three names are higher across that stretch, and SK Hynix stock sits out in front, so such a longer view offers a supportive background, even as the current split raises a caution flag.

Weighing the Case for SK Hynix Supporters of SK Hynix can point to that monthly breadth as the strongest argument in the company’s favor. Broad gains across the memory group suggest the HBM demand story rests on more than one company’s results, and SK Hynix stands at the center of it.

Skeptics of SK Hynix see the split inside the group, with Seagate lower and Micron barely moving, as a sign that the rally lacks confirmation. Currency adds another layer of risk. Stockholders of the SK Hynix American depositary shares carry Korean won exposure, and the company’s preliminary results remain subject to audit revision.

The open question is whether buying concentrated in the Roundhill fund and SK Hynix reflects a view on memory pricing or simply flows finding the most liquid path into the theme. A durable pricing view could pull Micron and Seagate along over time, while pure flows might fade as quickly as they arrived.

Managing Risk in the Memory Trade SK Hynix stock has run hard enough that a single large purchase at these levels carries real risk. Investors adding to their memory exposure may want to stay moderate and consider building in stages. Pairing their SK Hynix exposure with a broader basket like the Roundhill fund may cushion the hit if the leader stumbles.

It is worth watching for Micron and Seagate to join the advance, since broader participation could give the move in SK Hynix stock steadier ground. Micron’s fiscal Q4 2026 earnings report is an upcoming test for the group, and a Barron’s headline has already framed that release as a possible rebound catalyst for Micron stock.

Shareholders could track SK Hynix stock relative to the Roundhill memory fund, since a widening gap between the two could reveal whether the strength belongs to the company or to the theme. Either way, their exposure to a single memory name should stay sized for the swings this group can deliver.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) could see shares get closer to all-time highs hit two months ago when the company reports fourth-quarter financial results Wednesday after market close.

Here are the earnings estimates, what experts are saying and the key items to watch.

• Micron Technology stock is building positive momentum. What’s pushing MU stock higher?

Micron Q4 Earnings EstimatesAnalysts expect Micron to report fourth-quarter revenue of $50.75 billion, up from $11.31 billion in last year’s fourth quarter, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

The company has beaten analyst estimates for revenue in 12 straight quarters. The analyst estimate represents a new company record, surpassing the $41.46 billion reported in the third quarter.

Analysts expect Micron to report fourth-quarter earnings per share of $31.45, up from $3.03 in last year’s fourth quarter.

The company has beaten analyst estimates for earnings per share in 10 straight quarters.

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What Experts Are SayingMicron comes into quarterly earnings with the stock "stalled recently," Freedom Capital Markets Chief Market Strategist Jay Woods said in a weekly newsletter.

Woods said the stock is one of the hottest in 2026, with shares up over 200% year-to-date.

"The stock peaked the same day they reported record earnings last quarter and then fell roughly 40% over the following month," Woods said. "They have been slowly recovering ever since as they approach Wednesday afternoon’s release."

Woods said there’s one key question for investors that could determine where the stock goes.

"The question becomes – if last quarter’s record results led to a near-term peak, what kind of beat and raise will it take for them to climb to new heights this time around?"

Looking at the chart, Woods says a breakout above $1,126 that is sustained could put the prior all-time high of $1,255 back in play.

Woods looks at $1,575 as a key level where the one-year Fibonacci extension sits and where the average Street price target is currently.

"That does not mean Micron gets there. But it certainly gives us a level worth keeping on the radar."

Wedbush analyst Matt Bryson predicts Micron will report a beat and raise for the fourth quarter and guidance with pricing better than currently assumed.

The analyst reiterated an Outperform rating and price target of $1,400 ahead of earnings.

“While we would not be surprised if management offers more modest guidance (again baking in significant cushion should conditions change), we still would anticipate a guide assuming earnings power in the mid $30s (particularly
coming off of a better FQ4 base),” Bryson wrote.

Here are other recent analyst ratings on Micron stock and their price targets:

Baird: Maintained Outperform rating, raised price target from $1,280 to $1,520 Rosenblatt: Maintained Buy rating, with price target of $1,500 Wells Fargo: Maintained Overweight rating, lowered price target from $1,525 to $1,400 Citigroup: Maintained Buy rating, raised price target from $1,150 to $1,300 Key Items to WatchRevenue growth, demand and supply constraints could be key items for investors to watch Wednesday as Micron stock looks to get back to all-time highs.

The third quarter saw several records set, along with strong guidance for the fourth quarter.

Investors and analysts will be looking not only at the current quarterly numbers, but also looking ahead to see what kind of guidance Micron gives for the first quarter and next fiscal year.

Expectations are high, which could make the stock highly volatile with any sign of weakness. Likewise, continued strength and a strong backlog and guidance could send shares to record highs.

Micron stock is up 1.55 to $1,070.31 on Tuesday versus a 52-week trading range of $163.96 to $1,255.00. Micron stock is up 239% year-to-date in 2026.

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Photo: Samuel Boivin / Shutterstock – ejk

© 2026 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

AI runs on memory, and one overlooked U.S. chipmaker just signed contracts that could make its notorious boom-and-bust cycle a thing of the past. The numbers behind those deals tell a story most investors are sleeping on.

This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.

I continue building my Micron (NASDAQ:MU | MU Price Prediction) position because AI runs on memory, and Micron is the only U.S.-based memory manufacturer. It sells into a market where management says “DRAM and NAND industry demand continues to significantly exceed industry supply.”

Locked-In Contracts Change the Memory Playbook Memory used to be a boom-and-bust trade. Strategic Customer Agreements changed that. Micron has signed 16 of them, mostly running from calendar 2026 through the end of calendar 2030 as “take-or-pay agreements with binding commitments to purchase specific volumes”. Fourteen deals carry about $100 billion in revenue at minimum prices. Customers backed them with $22 billion in deposits. Management says the floor price still produces gross margins “well above our peak quarterly margins in any past cycle.”

Earnings Are Compounding at a Pace I Can’t Ignore Quarterly revenue rose from $11.315 billion in fiscal Q4 2025 to $41.46 billion in fiscal Q3 2026. Non-GAAP EPS jumped from $3.03 to $25.11, the 7th consecutive EPS beat. GAAP gross margin reached 84.6%, versus 37.7% a year earlier. Fiscal Q4 guidance: $50.0B ± $1.0B in revenue and $31.00 ± $1.00 in non-GAAP EPS.

Cheap Earnings Backed by a Strong Balance Sheet Micron trades at about 7x forward earnings despite the growth. The company ended the quarter with $24.4 billion in net cash and $5.7 billion of debt, winning a credit upgrade to BBB+. Free cash flow hit $18.3 billion in one quarter. The board raised the dividend 30% to $0.15/qtr. Management plans to increase capital returns starting December 9, 2026 and intends to “return 100% of our excess cash to shareholders” over time.

Why My Money Goes Here Instead of NVIDIA or SanDisk Shares of NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) trade at about 25x forward earnings, more than three times Micron’s multiple. SanDisk (NASDAQ:SNDK) is cheaper at 8x but makes only NAND and pays no dividend. Micron’s DRAM makes up 76% of revenue, with trailing revenue of $90.27 billion versus SanDisk’s $20.25 billion.

Cyclical Scars That Could Reopen Fiscal 2023 left damage. Micron posted gross profit of -$1.416 billion and an operating loss of $5.745 billion. Capital spending for fiscal 2026 will be around $27 billion, and management expects industry supply to improve gradually in 2028. If AI spending stalls while new fabs come online, pricing could fall quickly.

My position stays, and I continue adding, because this downturn would hit a different company. The take-or-pay contracts, customer deposits, and net cash give Micron cushions it lacked in 2023.

Reasons I’m Still Adding Management expects conditions tight beyond calendar 2027. The Idaho ID1 fab is on track for first wafer output by mid-calendar 2027. Micron expects “a sustained substantial multi-decade memory demand cycle to begin in the latter part of this decade.” I will judge the next fiscal Q4 release against the approximately 86% gross margin guide and look for progress on new contracts.

Customers have committed to buying Micron’s memory through 2030, and I expect to keep buying the stock for at least as long.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

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Anthropic's IPO prospectus, as reviewed by Reuters, shows 2025 revenue of nearly $4.6 billion, up about 12-fold from 2024, alongside an $8.06 billion operating loss, a $42 billion net loss that Reuters says includes a $34 billion accounting charge, and a warning that advanced AI could pose "catastrophic or existential risks to humanity." Yahoo Finance Host Julie Hyman, Breaking Business News Reporter Jake Conley and Senior Autos Reporter Pras Subramanian break down the missing 2026 numbers, customer concentration, why Anthropic can't slow down, and who's left holding the bag if the AI build-out doesn't pay off.

CHICAGO, MILWAUKEE and NEW YORK, Sept. 29, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- YieldMax® ETFs today announced the launch of the following ETF:

YieldMax® MU Option Income Strategy ETF (NASDAQ: MUY)

MUY seeks to maximize income potential by pursuing options-based strategies on Micron Technology, Inc. (MU). Tidal Investments LLC serves as investment adviser to MUY. MUY does not invest directly in MU.

MUY is the newest member of the YieldMax® Single Stock Option Income Strategy ETF family and like all YieldMax® ETFs, it aims to deliver current income to investors. With respect to distributions, MUY will be a Group 2 ETF, and its first distribution is expected to be announced on October 14, 2026.

Why Micron and How MUY Works
Micron technologies is a global semiconductor company that designs and manufactures memory and storage technologies, including dynamic random access memory (DRAM), NAND flash memory and NOR flash memory. These technologies are used across personal computers, servers, mobile devices and embedded systems. As a result, Micron gives investors exposure to a critical segment of the semiconductor industry that can be affected by changing demand, pricing cycles, technological developments and significant capital investment requirements.

MUY is designed for investors seeking current income and indirect exposure to the price performance of MU. The fund uses a synthetic call spread strategy* in an effort to generate options premiums while maintaining exposure to MU’s share price. The use of call spreads may allow for greater participation in MU’s potential gain than a traditional covered call** strategy under certain market conditions.

Important Information
Before investing, you should carefully consider each Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. This and other information are in the prospectus, a copy of which can be obtained by clicking here. Please read the prospectuses carefully before you invest. 

A portion (sometimes significant) of the Fund’s distributions may be classified as return of capital (“ROC”) for financial or tax reporting purposes, which would decrease the Fund’s NAV and trading price over time.

The repeated payment of distributions by the Fund, if any, may significantly erode the Fund’s NAV and trading price over time.

While the Fund intends to pay distributions on a regular basis, there is no assurance in any given period that distributions will be made.

Tidal Investments, LLC is the adviser for all YieldMax® ETFs.

THE FUND, TRUST, AND ADVISER ARE NOT AFFILIATED WITH ANY UNDERLYING REFERENCE ASSET.

Risk Disclosures

*A synthetic call spread is designed to replicate the payoff of a standard call spread while providing flexibility in risk management and market outlook.

**A covered call is a sale of call options by a seller who owns shares in the underlying assets and therefore could deliver them if the options are exercised by the buyer.

Investing involves risk. Principal loss is possible.

Call Writing Strategy Risk. The path dependency (i.e., the continued use) of the Fund’s call writing strategy will impact the extent that the Fund participates in the positive price returns of the underlying reference asset and, in turn, the Fund’s returns, both during the term of the sold call options and over longer periods.

Counterparty Risk. The Fund is subject to counterparty risk by virtue of its investments in options contracts. Transactions in some types of derivatives, including options, are required to be centrally cleared (“cleared derivatives”). In a transaction involving cleared derivatives, the Fund’s counterparty is a clearing house rather than a bank or broker. Since the Fund is not a member of clearing houses and only members of a clearing house (“clearing members”) can participate directly in the clearing house, the Fund will hold cleared derivatives through accounts at clearing members.

Derivatives Risk. Derivatives are financial instruments that derive value from the underlying reference asset or assets, such as stocks, bonds, or funds (including ETFs), interest rates or indexes. The Fund’s investments in derivatives may pose risks in addition to, and greater than, those associated with directly investing in securities or other ordinary investments, including risk related to the market, imperfect correlation with underlying investments or the Fund’s other portfolio holdings, higher price volatility, lack of availability, counterparty risk, liquidity, valuation and legal restrictions.

Options Contracts. The use of options contracts involves investment strategies and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. The prices of options are volatile and are influenced by, among other things, actual and anticipated changes in the value of the underlying instrument, including the anticipated volatility, which are affected by fiscal and monetary policies and by national and international political, changes in the actual or implied volatility or the reference asset, the time remaining until the expiration of the option contract and economic events.

Distribution Risk. As part of the Fund’s investment objective, the Fund seeks to provide current income. There is no assurance that the Fund will make a distribution in any given period. If the Fund does make distributions, the amounts of such distributions will likely vary greatly from one distribution to the next.

High Portfolio Turnover Risk. The Fund may actively and frequently trade all or a significant portion of the Fund’s holdings. A high portfolio turnover rate increases transaction costs, which may increase the Fund’s expenses.

Liquidity Risk. Some securities held by the Fund, including options contracts, may be difficult to sell or be illiquid, particularly during times of market turmoil.

Non-Diversification Risk. Because the Fund is “non-diversified,” it may invest a greater percentage of its assets in the securities of a single issuer or a smaller number of issuers than if it was a diversified fund.

New Fund Risk. The Fund is a recently organized management investment company with no operating history. As a result, prospective investors do not have a track record or history on which to base their investment decisions.

Price Participation Risk. The Fund employs an investment strategy that includes the sale of call option contracts, which limits the degree to which the Fund will participate in increases in value experienced by the underlying reference asset over the Call Period.

Single Issuer Risk. Issuer-specific attributes may cause an investment in the Fund to be more volatile than a traditional pooled investment which diversifies risk or the market generally. The value of the Fund, which focuses on an individual security (MU), may be more volatile than a traditional pooled investment or the market as a whole and may perform differently from the value of a traditional pooled investment or the market as a whole.

MU Investing Risk. MU faces risks unique to its operations including, among others, cyclical fluctuations in demand and pricing for memory and storage products, supply and manufacturing disruptions, increased material or labor costs or shortages, rapid technological change, customer concentration, geopolitical and trade-related restrictions, and the ability to attract, hire and retain key employees or qualified personnel. The trading price of MU’s common stock historically has been and is likely to continue to be volatile. Additionally, the semiconductor industry is highly cyclical and subject to significant pricing pressure, changes in customer demand, and substantial capital investment requirements, all of which may materially affect MU’s financial performance.

Inflation Risk. Inflation risk is the risk that the value of assets or income from investments will be less in the future as inflation decreases the value of money. As inflation increases, the present value of the Fund’s assets and distributions, if any, may decline.

Indirect Investment Risk. The Index is not affiliated with the Trust, the Fund, the Adviser, or their respective affiliates and is not involved with this offering in any way.

YieldMax® ETFs are distributed by Foreside Fund Services, LLC. Foreside is not affiliated with Tidal Investments, LLC, or YieldMax® ETFs.

© 2026 YieldMax® ETFs