Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

Micron Technology (MU -4.08%) has become a stock that retail investors love for its strong growth and cheap valuation, while institutional investors have grown increasingly cautious about its outlook. The latest investor to warn about Micron was Cathie Wood of Ark Investment Management, who said that while the current trend is up, memory cycles can be "viscous" and that increased competition from China could eventually upend the market.

If history is any guide, Micron could see its stock crash, and it could take decades to potentially recover.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

Before its latest surge, Micron set its all-time high all the way back in the summer of 2000 before the dot-com bubble burst. The company saw soaring revenue and profits driven by a memory shortage that pushed up average selling prices. At the same time, demand for DRAM (dynamic random-access memory) was surging due to a huge PC cycle sparked by the end of Y2K, the internet, and the release of Windows 2000. NAND (flash) memory prices were also soaring due to rising demand for electronic devices and cellphones.

Back in early 2000, Micron's stock went parabolic before eventually crashing back to Earth, and it took roughly two decades for the stock to recover. In the end, it was just another example of the huge boom-and-bust cycles the stock and the industry has gone through over the years.

Micron stock has seen a similar parabolic rise this year, although it makes the 2000 surge look small in comparison. Thus, while the semiconductor stock appears extremely cheap based on near-term earnings, the question is whether this time will be different than memory cycles.

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Is this memory cycle different? Micron is currently one of three big DRAM makers, along with Korean rivals Samsung and SK Hynix. Last quarter, it derived 73% of its revenue from DRAM and 26% from NAND. Together, these three companies control over 85% of the DRAM market.

In addition to the big three DRAM makers, Chinese company CXMT also produces DRAM, as does Taiwanese company Nanya. The NAND market, meanwhile, has more players, including Sandisk, Japanese company Kioxia, and Chinese company YMTC.

The memory cycle is currently being driven by high demand coming from the AI infrastructure build-out. AI chips, such as graphics processing units (GPUs), must be packaged with high bandwidth memory (HBM), a specialized form of DRAM, to reduce latency, while massive solid-state drives (SSDs) are needed to store training data. The big three memory makers, who have put most of their efforts and resources into HBM, have meanwhile caused conventional DRAM and NAND prices to skyrocket.

And this is what ultimately puts Micron and the whole memory trade at risk. While Micron is benefiting from huge HBM demand, conventional memory prices are what are driving the company's colossal revenue growth and gross margin expansion. By my estimate, Micron derives less than 10% of its revenue from HBM (an approximate 20% market share on a projected $54.6 billion market). This makes it very exposed to a pullback in ordinary DRAM and NAND prices.

While booming demand for HBM and memory companies signing longer-term contracts for the first time do make elements of the current memory cycle different than past ones, risks are also on the rise. CXMT has been increasing its DRAM capacity and taking market share, and it recently announced that it is making meaningful progress with more efficient chip designs. While it is very unlikely that any of its chips will be allowed in U.S. data centers, just increasing overall ordinary DRAM supply could have a big impact on conventional memory prices.

If increased DRAM and NAND supply, driven by increased capacity from China, leads to a big drop in conventional memory prices, I'd expect history to largely repeat itself, with Micron's stock crashing and never returning to prior highs. However, I don't think it will crash quite as far as in 2000, and that the company can remain profitable, unlike in past bust cycles. Still, I'd avoid this AI stock for now.

Stock splits can help put companies with lofty ticker prices back on retail investors' radar. These days, Micron Technology (MU -4.08%), Microsoft (MSFT -1.80%), and Meta Platforms (META -3.27%) stand out as some of the trillion-dollar giants that could be next in line to split their stocks.

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Micron's soaring share price makes a strong case for a split
Let's start with the company carrying the highest share price of the group.

Micron has become one of the clearest potential candidates for a stock split amid the AI boom. The company has conducted three in its history, in 1994, 1995, and 2000. That offers a precedent that makes one more likely, especially with its share price far higher today than it was before any of those splits.

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The business growth behind the rally is just as important. Micron's fiscal 2026 results showed record revenue and strong profitability, with the company pointing to AI-driven demand as its key growth engine. If that demand continues to support high earnings and investor interest, Micron's share price could continue to soar, making it a stronger candidate for a stock split.

A split wouldn't change Micron's total market cap. But the stock currently trades for around $940. If it rose a bit further to a four-figure share price, a hypothetical 5-for-1 split would turn a $1,000 share into five shares priced at roughly $200 each.

Microsoft has split its stock nine times, but not since 2003
Microsoft also hasn't split its stock in a long time. The company has completed nine stock splits since going public, but its most recent one was a 2-for-1 split in February 2003. According to Microsoft, its board approved that split to make the stock more accessible to a broader range of investors -- a common refrain among companies performing these manuevers.

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That history puts the argument for another split on sounder footing. In fact, the company has grown from a software powerhouse into a major force in cloud computing and AI. Plus, Azure, Microsoft 365, and Copilot give it more ways to expand.

These days, rising adoption of AI is driving demand for cloud infrastructure and software that helps companies automate work. Microsoft can serve both needs through Azure and its growing suite of AI-powered tools. That means continued business growth that could support further gains in its share price -- currently above $540 -- and potentially put a stock split on the table.

Meta could make history with its first-ever stock split
Meta Platforms may be the most interesting stock-split candidate of this group because it has never performed one before. Shares are trading just under $750, giving management a reason to consider a split to make the stock and its options more affordable for retail investors.

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Indeed, the case for such a move is compelling. Meta operates social media sites Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, giving it a huge reach and a powerful advertising business. On top of that, its AI investments are improving advertising tools and content recommendations, as well as supporting new products.

For the second quarter, Meta reported 28% year-over-year revenue growth and highlighted AI as a key driver of the business.

If Meta continues to grow its advertising business and accelerate its revenue growth through AI, its share price could rise further, strengthening the case for a stock split. That milestone event for Meta would likely generate significant interest among retail investors.

Micron looks closest to a split, while Microsoft may wait longest
This all raises a natural question: Which of these three giants will split first?

Micron, Microsoft, and Meta each have compelling reasons to act. But their odds of acting aren't equal.

Micron looks most likely to go first. Its shares have the highest face value on the list and it has three previous splits under its belt. Meta could beat Micron to it, but as the only "Magnificent Seven" stock that has never split, it's the hardest to predict.

Microsoft, on the other hand, may wait the longest, since its share price is the lowest of the three.

Krilogy Financial LLC grew its holdings in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU – Free Report) by 4.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 38,897 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,609 shares during the period. Micron Technology comprises 1.0% of Krilogy Financial LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Krilogy Financial LLC’s holdings in Micron Technology were worth $38,470,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MU. Walker Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Walker Asset Management LLC now owns 3,116 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $3,318,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. RHS Financial LLC grew its holdings in Micron Technology by 66.5% in the 3rd quarter. RHS Financial LLC now owns 413 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $440,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Mechanics Bank Trust Department boosted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 33.5% in the third quarter. Mechanics Bank Trust Department now owns 267 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $284,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 14.1% in the third quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management now owns 1,630 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,736,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UNICOM Systems Inc. raised its stake in Micron Technology by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter. UNICOM Systems Inc. now owns 60,800 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $64,759,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity In related news, CEO Sanjay Mehrotra sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $968.90, for a total value of $38,756,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 264,503 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $256,276,956.70. This trade represents a 13.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Scott R. Allen sold 879 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,000.00, for a total transaction of $879,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 34,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,958,000. This trade represents a 2.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 95,879 shares of company stock worth $90,939,466 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Micron Technology Stock Down 3.6% NASDAQ:MU opened at $953.19 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.94, a current ratio of 3.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 12.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.17 and a beta of 2.22. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $984.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $853.14. Micron Technology, Inc. has a 12-month low of $186.25 and a 12-month high of $1,255.00. Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, September 30th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $33.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $31.77 by $1.65. The company had revenue of $54.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $51.33 billion. Micron Technology had a net margin of 63.80% and a return on equity of 92.62%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 379.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.03 earnings per share. Micron Technology has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 37.150-39.150 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 175.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 14th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 14th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio is currently 0.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In MU has been the topic of several recent research reports. Phillip Securities lifted their price objective on Micron Technology from $530.00 to $1,870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Micron Technology from $2,100.00 to $3,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Arete Research lifted their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $852.00 to $1,500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. President Capital raised their price objective on shares of Micron Technology to $1,500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Micron Technology from $1,175.00 to $2,000.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-one have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,407.88.

Get Our Latest Research Report on MU

Micron Technology News Roundup Here are the key news stories impacting Micron Technology this week:

Positive Sentiment: Micron’s board increased its share-repurchase authorization to approximately $35 billion, potentially supporting earnings per share and signaling management’s confidence in long-term cash generation. Why Is Micron Stock Rising Today? Positive Sentiment: Investors and commentators highlighted Micron’s multi-year customer agreements, which provide substantial visibility into future demand, while more than 75% of fiscal 2027 output is reportedly committed. AI-related demand and the planned HBM4 ramp could also support pricing and margins. Jim Cramer on Semiconductor Stocks Positive Sentiment: Recent results remain exceptionally strong: fiscal fourth-quarter revenue rose roughly 379% year over year to $54.23 billion, while adjusted EPS exceeded expectations. Rosenblatt reaffirmed a Buy rating with a $1,900 target, and other analysts argued that the stock’s low forward valuation may underestimate the durability of the AI memory cycle. Micron Valuation Analysis Neutral Sentiment: The central debate is whether Micron’s unusually high current profits represent a sustainable structural shift or a cyclical peak. Low forward earnings multiples look attractive, but they also reflect investor concerns that memory pricing and margins could eventually normalize. Negative Sentiment: China’s ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) reported progress on a denser “4F square” DRAM design and plans to target server memory. The development raised fears that additional supply could weaken Micron’s pricing power, particularly in its most profitable products. Micron Stock and China Competition Negative Sentiment: Broader semiconductor selling, profit-taking after a major rally, and warnings about China’s manufacturing capabilities added pressure. A potential labor dispute at Micron’s Taiwan operations, a $600 million patent settlement, and recent insider selling contributed to concerns about execution and future cash flow. (Free Report)

Micron Technology, Inc is a semiconductor company that develops and manufactures memory and storage solutions. Its product portfolio includes dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), NAND flash memory, three-dimensional XPoint-related technologies, solid-state drives, and high-bandwidth memory products designed for demanding computing applications.

The company serves customers across the data center, artificial intelligence, networking, automotive, industrial, mobile, consumer electronics, and embedded markets.

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Nvidia (NVDA -3.04%) and Micron Technology (MU -2.78%) are two of the stock market's biggest artificial intelligence (AI) success stories. Nvidia dominates AI accelerators, while Micron is benefiting from extraordinary demand for memory chips. Both companies have delivered remarkable growth, rewarding investors who recognized their opportunities early.

But as Wall Street looks toward 2027, another semiconductor stock could be preparing for its breakout moment. Marvell Technology (MRVL -6.04%) has already rallied on enthusiasm surrounding custom AI chips and advanced networking.

However, the company's latest investor day projections, a lucrative partnership with Nvidia, and an expanding relationship with Alphabet suggest something more substantial than hype. As investors look beyond the obvious AI winners, Marvell could attract considerably more attention.

Image source: Getty Images.

Marvell covers two enormous AI markets
Marvell isn't trying to replace Nvidia's GPUs or compete with Micron's memory solutions. Instead, the company focuses on two increasingly important components of AI infrastructure: custom silicon and high-speed connectivity.

Custom accelerators allow hyperscalers to design processors specifically optimized for certain workloads. Meanwhile, optical networking and interconnect technologies help move enormous quantities of data between chips, servers, and data centers.

During its recent investor day conference, Marvell estimated its total addressable market (TAM) could approach $400 billion by calendar 2030. Management outlined approximately $37 billion in interconnect revenue and roughly $30 billion from custom silicon by fiscal year 2031. This forecast reflects expectations for annualized growth of approximately 65% and 80%, respectively, across the two businesses.

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Nvidia and Google endorsed Marvell
Back in March, Nvidia invested $2 billion in Marvell. The deal helped establish a strategic partnership focused on connecting custom AI processors with Nvidia's computing and networking ecosystem. The relationship focuses on NVLink Fusion, which allows AI developers to integrate specialized processors into Nvidia-based racks.

This is important because it positions Marvell as a beneficiary of the broader data center build-out rather than simply a competitor to Nvidia. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's willingness to invest in Marvell provides a meaningful endorsement of its technology.

In addition, Marvell's expanding relationship with Alphabet involves developing custom silicon supporting Google Cloud's AI infrastructure, including chips that complement its Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) ecosystem.

Specifically, Google received warrants tied to as much as $120 billion in potential chip purchases through fiscal 2033. While this isn't guaranteed revenue, it still illustrates the enormous scale of the relationship and the importance of Marvell's position in the AI chip value chain.

Why 2027 could be Marvell's breakout year
For years, memory and storage were viewed as commodity products. For this reason, memory stocks have had to fend off a narrative that they operate in cyclical markets. As AI infrastructure spending continues accelerating, investors are starting to realize that GPUs were only part of the equation. Memory and storage are now essential bottlenecks, sending shares of companies like Micron and Sandisk soaring.

Marvell could experience a similar shift in investor perception in 2027. The reason boils down to how AI spending is evolving. Hyperscalers aren't simply procuring more GPUs. They're building increasingly complex accelerated computing systems that require faster networking, greater bandwidth, and specialized processors designed for particular workloads.

As generative models become more sophisticated and inference deployments expand into new applications, efficiently moving data between processors becomes increasingly important. This is precisely where Marvell's optical networking, interconnect technologies, and custom silicon expertise converge.

Unlike some semiconductor companies waiting for future design wins, Marvell already has major customer programs underway. To get a grasp of how these relationships are impacting Marvell, consider that the company raised its fiscal 2028 revenue target from $18 billion to $20 billion. Importantly, Marvell's fiscal 2028 begins in early 2027 and ends in January 2028 -- meaning the majority of this projected growth will unfold during calendar 2027. Looking even further ahead, management expects total revenue of $70 billion to $90 billion in fiscal 2031. At the midpoint, that's nearly 10 times what Marvell generated during fiscal 2026.

This growth trajectory is why 2027 could represent the inflection point for Marvell. Nvidia has already established itself as the dominant platform for AI factories. Meanwhile, Micron continues to demonstrate the importance of high bandwidth memory and advanced DRAM. Marvell is approaching a period where its own revenue growth could make the importance of connectivity and custom silicon impossible to overlook. For growth investors looking for the next AI semiconductor breakout story, I consider Marvell stock an attractive long-term buy.

A memory kit that cost about $191 a year ago now runs $1,118, up 485%, according to the website Tom's Hardware, and that's just one data point behind a brutal October: PC shipments tumbled more than 20% in the third quarter as laptop and desktop makers got priced out of the same memory that data centers are now hoarding.

That's what a memory shortage actually looks like in practice. You hear a lot of talk about such a shortage on earnings calls or in tech news segments, but what does that really mean?

It means real tech products are getting more expensive or simply not being built. Whatever chipmaker controls that scarce supply gets to name the price, and right now, it seems like it's the artificial intelligence (AI) companies that can do it.

The question worth asking isn't which AI company has the flashiest model. It's which one owns something scarce when demand exceeds what factories can produce.

Image source: Getty Images.

How prices are moving, and why
According to the website TrendForce, conventional DRAM contract prices jumped roughly 90% to 95% in the first quarter of 2026, with NAND flash memory climbing 55% to 60% over the same stretch. And suppliers have been warning customers to brace for further monthly increases heading into year-end.

SK Hynix (SKHY -5.54%) told investors that its memory capacity is essentially sold out for 2026. That's not a glitch in the supply chain; it's a deliberate choice.

Micron Technology (MU -3.43%), SK Hynix, and Samsung Electronics (SSNLF +0.00%), which together control more than 95% of global DRAM production, have been redirecting wafer capacity away from ordinary memory chips and toward high-bandwidth memory (HBM).

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AI talk can get really confusing and jargon-heavy. Basically, the three companies that make almost all the world's memory chips looked at two options: either build dumb, everyday memory chips cheap and in bulk, like they always have, or build the fancier, pricier memory chips that AI data centers are desperate for. 

And they chose to lean hard into the second option instead of racing to build more factories, like they've done in past boom cycles. It's a smart financial choice because AI is where the money is these days.

Who holds the pricing power?
Micron sits at the center of this story as the only major U.S.-based memory maker, which is exactly why its own numbers now read like the rest of this sector's. Sandisk (SNDK -4.47%) tells perhaps the starkest version: Its gross margin hit 78.4% last quarter, a figure that belongs to a software company, not a chip manufacturer.

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It seems this is a direct result of NAND scarcity rather than any special differentiation in what Sandisk actually makes. SK Hynix now trades in the U.S. as well, with its American depositary receipts beginning trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange in July. All three are, for now, in the rare position of selling a commodity that behaves like a luxury good.

Western Digital (WDC -3.40%) deserves a spot here, but with somewhat of an asterisk. Storage demand swings more with the broader economy than pure memory does, so even amid today's shortage, Western Digital's fortunes remain more tied to big-company budgets than do those of Sandisk or Micron.

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Nvidia (NVDA -3.04%) earns its own asterisk for the opposite reason: It benefits enormously from AI demand, but it also needs a steady, affordable supply of HBM to build its own chips, which means the same shortage lifting memory makers' margins is simultaneously a cost and availability risk sitting inside Nvidia's own supply chain.

Who's getting squeezed?
Apple (AAPL +1.16%) is where this shortage turns from an abstraction into a real number. DRAM costs for its next flagship iPhone are projected to roughly triple, according to Fortune, with memory potentially climbing from around 10% of an iPhone's component cost today to more than 45% by 2027.

The company has already guided for a lower gross margin for a recent quarter, specifically citing rising memory costs, and estimates suggest it would need to raise iPhone pricing by hundreds of dollars just to hold its margin steady, a trade-off with no comfortable answer, according to the British management consultancy EBC Research.

Super Micro Computer (SMCI -6.46%) is feeling this even more acutely since it builds AI servers packed with exactly the memory everyone's fighting over, with thinner purchasing power than larger rivals to cushion the blow. Its gross margin swung wildly through 2026 as memory and tariff costs moved in and out of its favor.

So what does this actually mean for an investor watching from the sidelines? Mostly that the clock matters as much as the picks themselves. New chip fab capacity isn't expected to arrive in meaningful volume until late 2027 at the earliest, with real relief more likely in 2028 or 2029, according to memory executives, including Micron's CEO. Until new supply physically exists, this remains a story about which companies absorb higher costs and which profit from them.

Key Takeaways Micron & Sandisk offer buying opportunities despite a memory stock sell-off fueled by China's CXMT advances.MU's strong HBM demand, rising NAND sales and long-term customer agreements support its AI-driven growth.SNDK's AI storage demand and $93.9B in long-term agreements strengthen its revenue visibility.
Memory stocks are facing fresh selling pressure since Monday as investors question the sustainability of artificial intelligence (AI)-related spending and worry about rising competition. The latest trigger came from China’s ChangXin Memory Technologies, which reported progress over the weekend on a new DRAM architecture that it claims could boost memory density by 30-50%, allowing more data to be stored in the same physical space.

The market reaction has been sharp. Per CNBC, SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics dropped more than 10% and 7%, respectively, yesterday in Seoul. Both touched their lowest levels since August.

In the United States, Micron Technology (MU - Free Report) , Sandisk Corporation (SNDK - Free Report) , Seagate Technology Holdings (STX - Free Report) and Western Digital Corporation (WDC - Free Report) have also come under pressure. Over the past two trading sessions, shares of Micron, Sandisk, Seagate and Western Digital fell 4.4%, 6.2%, 4.5% and 4.1%, respectively, reflecting growing nervousness across the memory sector. Investors were already worried about how AI spending is being financed, so the CXMT news landed on a fragile market.

However, the sell-off may be getting ahead of itself. Although CXMT’s technological progress could intensify competition over time, the company still needs to prove that it can manufacture its chips at scale. Legacy memory makers still hold a technological lead over CXMT.

For investors, this pullback could present an opportunity rather than a reason to panic. Micron and Sandisk are worth buying now on the recent dip, as both are set to benefit from continued demand for memory and storage driven by AI infrastructure.

Let’s assess why these two stocks still offer attractive opportunities despite the recent volatility.

MicronMicron closed fiscal 2026 on a strong note, with record revenues, high margins and strong cash generation. The outlook is even more striking. The company expects fiscal first-quarter 2027 revenues of $61.5 billion (plus or minus $1.5 billion) and adjusted earnings of $38.15 per share (plus or minus $1), implying roughly 351% revenue growth and 698% earnings growth from a year ago.

HBM revenues grew faster than Micron’s total revenues in the fiscal fourth quarter, and the company has already contracted most of its 2027 HBM supply at significantly higher prices. Its HBM4 ramp is progressing, and it is working with NVIDIA on a custom HBM4E solution. NAND is a second engine, with data center SSD revenues approaching $10 billion in the fiscal fourth quarter, more than 10 times the year-earlier level, as uses like KV-cache offload widen demand for fast storage. Further out, autonomous vehicles and humanoid robots should need far more memory and storage than today’s devices.

Micron is also trying to make this boom more durable. It has signed 26 Strategic Customer Agreements, which are expected to account for more than 35% of revenues through 2030. Customer financial commitments have risen to $32 billion, mostly as cash deposits. That could soften the industry’s usual boom-and-bust swings. New capacity is coming from the United States, Singapore, Japan and Taiwan, with Singapore HBM packaging due to start in early 2027 and the ID1 fab in mid-2027. Risks remain, including heavy capital spending and slower price increases, but fundamentals suggest that the long-term story is intact.

MU currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and has a VGM Score of A.

SandiskSandisk has become one of the biggest winners of the AI memory boom, and since its separation from Western Digital it offers a more direct way to invest in demand for NAND flash and data storage. The reason lies in how AI is changing storage needs. As inference and agentic AI generate more data that must be stored, retrieved and served with low delay, NAND is becoming central to architectures built around KV cache and RAG. Sandisk is scaling its datacenter business accordingly, widening its enterprise SSD range and moving toward QLC products. It now expects 2026 datacenter exabyte growth in the mid-70% range. It believes demand keeps rising on a rolling basis, and sees the enterprise datacenter flash market reaching about 1.2 zettabytes by 2030.

What sets Sandisk apart is its effort to escape NAND’s usual swings in spot prices. Its eight New Business Model agreements are expected to cover more than half of its bits in fiscal 2027 and roughly two-thirds in fiscal 2028. At floor pricing, the signed deals represent at least $93.9 billion in revenues.

For fiscal first-quarter 2027, Sandisk expects revenues of $10.3 billion to $10.8 billion, up from $8.97 billion recorded in the last reported quarter. With multi-year agreements providing visibility and AI inference driving storage demand, the company looks well placed for the years ahead.

SNDK currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 and has a VGM Score of A.

Micron (MU) stock investors overreacted to news this week that China's CXMT had made "key progress" on a new type of memory chip, a Wall Street analyst said.

Rosenblatt Securities analyst Kevin Cassidy said the news, which caused a sell-off in memory chip stocks, was "overblown."

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"The reaction overstates the near-term competitive threat and overlooks the structural changes reshaping DRAM demand," Cassidy said in a client note late Tuesday.

On Monday, news reports said CXMT plans to begin selling a new server-memory product based on its "4F square" structure by the end of 2026. The chip uses a new cell architecture to boost memory density for dynamic random-access memory, or DRAM.

Cassidy called CXMT a "paper tiger," saying it doesn't pose a significant threat to Micron or peer SK Hynix (SKHY). He reiterated his buy ratings on Micron stock and SK Hynix stock.

CXMT is a long way from scaling production and yields for the new type of chip, he said.

"CXMT's presentation does not establish manufacturing yields or wafer volumes," Cassidy said. "New architectures can face substantial initial yield challenges. Without those disclosures, a product-launch target provides limited evidence of competitive, high-volume economics."

Micron Continues To Retreat
Meanwhile, the artificial intelligence megatrend continues to provide tailwinds for the memory chip business, he said.

In premarket trades on the stock market today, Micron stock dropped more than 2% to 931.50. SK Hynix stock fell more than 4% to 150.64.

On Tuesday, the SOX dropped as much as 3.1% in intraday trading before closing down just 0.2%. Still, it was the index's fifth consecutive down session.

SOX component Micron is on the IBD Tech Leaders stock list.

Follow Patrick Seitz on X at @IBD_PSeitz for more stories on consumer technology, software and semiconductor stocks.

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SummaryMicron Technology, Inc. slid from $1,097 after earnings to $953 as CXMT's new DRAM cell design landed on top of a semis selloff already underway.The 10-K values Micron’s $134B of contracts at minimum prices, and only $33.5B lands next year, so they matter most if the cycle turns.If FY27 and FY28 land near consensus, $953 already assumes earnings fall back to roughly FY26 levels afterward, which would take something like a 65% drop in memory prices.Management's supply discipline, targeted buyback, and customer diversification position MU for resilience even if memory pricing softens. iiievgeniy/iStock via Getty Images

Investment Thesis I last wrote about Micron Technology, Inc. (MU) back in February, and honestly, a lot has happened since then. My first piece on it, back in October 2025, focused on the business

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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.

Elon Musk singled out Micron by name on X, calling its pricing conduct reasonable while accusing unnamed rivals of being extortionate. His praise landed just as the stock slid further from a peak that already has investors watching closely.

On the evening of Oct. 13, Elon Musk publicly praised Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU | MU Price Prediction) for how it handles memory pricing. His comment came while Micron shares sit 25% below their 52-week high. Barron’s picked up the post on Wednesday as the stock kept falling. The post arrives as the stock trades well below its recent peak.

What Musk Actually Posted
The remark was a short reply to another user on X. Musk did not attach an investment thesis, a prepared statement or a business announcement to it. Here is Musk’s post in full: “Micron has been reasonable regarding future memory prices, while others have been extortionate, which is something today’s customers won’t forget … Micron is making is the smart move for long-term customer loyalty.”

In the post, Elon Musk called Micron reasonable and described certain others as extortionate on future memory prices. He did not say who he meant, and we have not identified those companies. Musk writes as a buyer would, since the post is about what customers will remember.

The post reached a large audience. It drew 16,905 likes, 1,249 retweets and 491 replies as of Wednesday morning.

Micron in Brief
Micron makes memory and storage. Its DRAM, NAND and flash products go into data centers, mobile devices, PCs and automotive systems. It also makes high-bandwidth memory, a stacked form of DRAM used alongside AI accelerators. Micron posts its business units, results and filings on its investor relations site.

The AI expansion needs more than GPUs, and the suppliers of memory, power and cooling tend to get overlooked (we highlighted seven of those non-chipmaker names in a free report you can grab here: 7 Stocks Powering the AI Boom (That Aren’t Chipmakers)).

Shares Sit 25% Below Their 52-Week High After a Historic Run
Micron traded at $941.46 in the Oct. 14 delayed quote, a move of -1.22% in the regular session. That puts the shares 25% below their 52-week high of $1,254.81.

The longer record shows strong gains. Micron is up 230.07% year to date and 388.88% over the past year. Over five years the stock has returned 1,322.22%, and the company’s market capitalization is about $1.065 trillion. This decline is a dip within a strong multiyear run.

Recent moves have been down. The shares returned -9.96% over the past week and -3.47% over the past month. Selling hit the whole group on Oct. 13, when memory and data storage stocks fell broadly. The 50-day moving average is $979.51, and the 200-day moving average is $705.24.

Wall Street Ratings Lean Heavily Positive
Analyst ratings are largely positive: 9 strong buy, 36 buy, 3 hold, 0 sell and 1 strong sell. The average analyst price target is $1,560.57. That number is a consensus of individual analyst targets and reflects a range of views on where the shares could trade.

Valuation Gap Every Holder Should Understand
Micron trades at a trailing price-to-earnings ratio of about 13x and a forward P/E of about 7x. The two numbers are far apart because analysts expect strong earnings growth. The stock’s beta is 2.226, which means the shares have moved more than the broad market.

Today Is Micron’s Ex-Dividend Date
Wednesday, Oct. 14, is Micron’s ex-dividend date. The quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share is scheduled to be paid on Oct. 29, according to the company’s fiscal fourth-quarter press release filed with the SEC. Micron’s dividend per share is $0.565. That payout is small, and the yield is modest. The date matters mainly for the dividend calendar.

What We Could Not Verify
We did not confirm whether the recent peak is an all-time high, so this article refers only to the 52-week high. We also did not confirm any business relationship behind Musk’s praise. A single post from one executive tells us nothing about memory pricing across the industry, no matter how many people read it.

Praise Meets a Pullback
Praise and a dip now coincide. A prominent executive praised Micron’s pricing conduct in front of a large audience. Meanwhile, the shares trade well below their recent peak after a year that grew them several times over. Investors researching the stock can keep an eye on how that gap develops leading up to the company’s next earnings report.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Micron stock has dropped in the past week but Elon Musk backed the memory-chip company's long-term strategy.

Elon Musk just called unnamed memory makers extortionate while praising Micron's pricing as a model for long-term loyalty, but the company's own contracts tell a more complicated story about who actually controls prices.

At 5:52 p.m. Eastern on October 13, 2026, Elon Musk, responding to Nicholas Mugalli, posted on X that Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU | MU Price Prediction) “has been reasonable regarding future memory prices, while others have been extortionate, which is something today’s customers won’t forget …” He named no company. No company was labeled extortionate. He added that Micron was making the smart move for long-term customer loyalty.

@RealNickMugalli Micron has been reasonable regarding future memory prices, while others have been extortionate, which is something today’s customers won’t forget …

Micron is making is the smart move for long-term customer loyalty.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 13, 2026

Micron had closed the regular session at $953.19, down 3.62%, and after hours it rose only 0.32% to $956.20. The praise read as commentary, and that take looks right.

What Musk’s Post Actually Covers
Nothing in the post is signed. No supply agreement between Micron and any Musk company has been reported, and the post disclosed no prices, volumes, or contract terms.

Musk was responding to investor Nicholas Mugalli. His post summing up a JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) note said Micron holds 26 long-term deals covering 35%+ of revenue through 2030, $150 billion in contracted backlog, $32 billion in committed customer cash and over 75% of next year’s output already sold. Those figures came through a social post. They didn’t come from the note itself, but they line up with what Micron told investors on its September 30 earnings call.

Why the Contracts Matter More Than the Compliment
Selling output years ahead turns a cyclical commodity business into something closer to a contracted one. That shift explains much of the re-rating that raised Micron’s market value to $1.08 trillion, close to Berkshire Hathaway’s (NYSE:BRK-A, NYSE:BRK-B) $1.11 trillion.

Against guidance for fiscal first-quarter revenue of $61.5 billion ± $1.5 billion, one buyer’s goodwill doesn’t move the numbers. Musk also has a stake in the matter. His companies buy huge amounts of memory for AI computing and vehicles (we featured seven suppliers behind that same AI expansion, from power to cooling, in a free report you can grab here). When a buyer that size praises a supplier for gentle pricing, he is also negotiating in public.

Where the “Reasonable” Label Breaks Down
Micron posted an 87.0% non-GAAP gross margin (the share of revenue left after production costs) in the fiscal fourth quarter. Management said, “any new discussions on SCAs where pricing is involved are negotiated with higher pricing based on prevailing market conditions and outlook.”

The pricing bands limit both the downside and the upside. Three quarters of the expected contract revenue come with a set pricing framework, and most of those frameworks carry floor and ceiling prices. Ceilings cap the upside during a shortage, but the finance chief said: “even at floor prices, we expect margins meaningfully above any prior cycle peak margins.”

The bigger threat is supply, because before Musk posted, a Chinese memory maker flagged a denser chip design, which goes straight at the scarcity thesis for commodity DRAM. Micron fell 12.4% over four sessions from $1,088.00, and it now trades 24% below its $1,255.00 high even after a 234.18% gain this year.

What Investors Need to Weigh in Micron’s Contract Story
The pullback likely reflects worry about future Chinese supply, while Micron’s contracts are cash-backed take-or-pay agreements (the customer pays whether or not it takes delivery) that run into 2031. Musk’s post doesn’t change any contract already signed, and investors were right to shrug, since the pricing control he praised is narrower than it sounds because Micron is raising prices on new agreements.

Memory cycles can turn fast, and output sold forward at today’s prices may look cheap if the shortage gets worse while Chinese competition grows. Micron’s fiscal first-quarter report needs to land inside its $61.5 billion ± $1.5 billion range at roughly 86.25% gross margin. A miss on either number, or a close back below the $186.25 low that started this run, would prove this view wrong.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Micron Technology (MU -3.62%) filed its annual report on Oct. 9, and it shows a shift in who buys the memory chipmaker's products. No customer accounted for 10% or more of revenue in fiscal 2026 (the 53 weeks ending Sept. 3, 2026). A year before, one customer made up 17% of sales.

Put another way, Micron's top buyer matters less to its results than it did a year ago. The shift came as revenue climbed 256% year over year to about $133 billion. And it comes with the stock off about 14% from its Oct. 7 close, at roughly $936 as of this writing.

Relying less on one buyer does lower a risk to shareholders. But I think the report also shows that Micron's bigger dependence is still there.

Image source: Micron.

From 17% to below 10%The report doesn't name the customer. It just says the 17% customer's purchases in fiscal 2025 were mostly in the cloud memory business unit. This unit sells memory to big cloud computing companies, and high-bandwidth memory for artificial intelligence systems to all data center customers.

It's worth noting that no customer hit 10% of revenue in fiscal 2023, either. One did in fiscal 2024, at 10%, and one reached 17% the next year.

In dollars, 17% of fiscal 2025's $37.4 billion in revenue comes to around $6.4 billion from a single customer.

Did that customer buy less?The 17% customer likely didn't cut its spending.

Micron's quarterly report for its fiscal third quarter said one customer, again mostly in the cloud memory unit, made up 10% of revenue in the first nine months of fiscal 2026. Revenue in the nine months was around $79 billion, so the customer spent close to $8 billion.

The filings don't say directly that it's the same buyer. But if it is, it spent more with Micron in nine months than it did in all of fiscal 2025, and its share dropped only because everyone else's purchases grew faster.

Showing how broad the growth was, all four of Micron's business units more than tripled their revenue in fiscal 2026. The cloud memory unit's revenue climbed 219% to $43.1 billion. The core data center unit, which sells data center storage plus memory for server makers, grew 420% to $37.6 billion. Mobile and client revenue climbed 209% to $36.6 billion, and automotive and embedded revenue rose 234% to $15.9 billion. So the cloud memory unit's share of total revenue dipped to 32% from 36%, after jumping from 15% in fiscal 2024.

Micron still depends on a few big buyersMicron's top 10 customers provided over half of its revenue in fiscal 2026, just as they did the year before. And data centers accounted for around 60% of revenue, up from about half in fiscal 2025.

The top-10 number comes to an average of over $6.6 billion a customer -- more than the single biggest customer spent in fiscal 2025.

But I think the data center number is the concentration that matters most today. A decline in capital spending for data centers might cut orders from many of Micron's largest buyers all at once.

Plus, most of the year's growth came from price. Micron said average selling prices of DRAM, the memory chips that make up most of its sales, climbed around 180% in fiscal 2026, but the volume it shipped grew by a percentage in the mid-20s. Higher prices are also mainly why net income rose nearly tenfold, to about $85 billion.

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True, Micron has tried to lock in demand. By its Sept. 30 earnings call, it had signed 26 multi-year deals that require customers to buy set volumes, backed by $32 billion of financial commitments. But it estimates those agreements cover over 35% of its revenue through 2030, which still leaves a big part of its sales outside them.

Investors might already see these risks. Micron's earnings per share grew to $74.33 in fiscal 2026 from $7.59 the year before, but the stock costs only around 13 times those earnings. With a price-to-earnings ratio so low after a year like that, investors seem to expect that profit could fall once memory prices do.

In the end, I'd call the customer change an improvement, though a small one. Micron is less exposed to any single buyer than it was a year ago. But it's arguably more exposed to data center spending and memory prices than it was, and they are still the biggest risks in the stock.

V létě musel mladý investor Leopold Aschenbrenner zkousnout velkou porážku, když jeho hedgeový fond Situational Awareness musel prodat většinu svého portfolia společnosti Citadel. Bývalý 25letý výzkumník OpenAI se tehdy spálil na extrémní koncentraci zaměřené na firmy spojené s AI infrastrukturou, které potkal velký výprodej. Nyní, o pouhých pár měsíců později, je Aschenbrennerův fond opět pod citelným tlakem.

Největší pozice fondu se od svých lokálních maxim dosažených na přelomu září a října propadly o šest až 30 procent. Největší váhu v portfoliu mají výrobci paměťových čipů SanDisk a Micron Technology, které podle údajů z formuláře 13F za druhé čtvrtletí tvoří dohromady 55 procent portfolia.

Přitom Sandisk je od svého říjnového maxima dole o 19 procent, Micron o 14 procent. Ztrácejí ale i další zástupci v portfoliu: Nebius (-11 %), CoreWeave (-13 %) a SharonAI, jejíž akcie spadly dokonce až o 30 procent, upozornil příspěvek na sociální síti X od účtu sledujícího Aschenbrennerův fond.

Leopold Aschenbrenner's biggest positions are getting hit again
Here's what his top holdings done since October highs:
• SanDisk $SNDK: down 19%
• Bloom Energy $BE: down 6%
• Nebius $NBIS: down 11%
• CoreWeave $CRWV: down 13%
• Micron $MU: down 14%
• SharonAI $SHAZ: down 30%
SanDisk and Micron are 55% of the fund, per Q2 13F
In July, a drawdown like this triggered a forced sale of his book to Citadel

— Leopold Stock Tracker (@LeopoldTracker_) October 13, 2026
Současná situace tak dává vzpomenout na konec července, kdy přílišná sázka na společnosti jako CoreWeave, Nebius, SanDisk nebo Bloom Energy v kombinaci s využíváním vysoké finanční páky (podle některých zdrojů kolem čtyřnásobku vlastního kapitálu) přinutila Aschenbrennera kapitulovat, protože jeho portfolio tehdy ztratilo 67 procent hodnoty během jediného měsíce.

Stalo se tak poté, co na trzích došlo k prudkému výprodeji v AI sektoru, který semlel i zmíněné tituly. Do toho navíc rostly akcie, které fond shortoval, takže fond prodělával na dlouhých i krátkých pozicích zároveň. To nakonec vedlo k jednomu z největších kolapsů hedgeového fondu posledních let.

Aschenbrenner investorům přiznal, že fond se dostal trvalému poškození kapitálu blíž, než by bylo přijatelné. Aby tak zabránil dalším ztrátám, prodal většinu portfolia společnosti Citadel, kterou vede miliardář Ken Griffin.

Restart s větší obezřetností

Po dramatickém výprodeji prošel fond faktickým restartem. Aschenbrenner investorům oznámil, že odstranil veškeré úvěrové financování portfolia, uzavřel krátké pozice a přebudoval proces řízení rizik. Fond si současně ponechal své soukromé investice, včetně významného podílu ve startupu Anthropic, jehož hodnota se pohybuje v miliardách dolarů.

Navzdory červencovému kolapsu zůstává fond po letních událostech stále v působivém zisku. A dobře je na tom i po zmíněném nedávném výprodeji na polovodičových akciích. Od začátku roku je totiž fond v plusu o 57 procent, což je odrazem mimořádně silného zhodnocení z předchozích měsíců.

Současná nemilá situace se však zdá být oproti červencovému kolapsu zásadně odlišná. Zatímco tehdy byly ztráty umocněny vysokou pákou financovanou prostřednictvím prime brokerů a následnými margin cally, tak po letní restrukturalizaci, by měl fond (i přes využívání opčních strategií) fungovat s výrazně konzervativnějším profilem rizika. To znamená, že i další výrazný pokles klíčových pozic by nemusel vést k tak dramatické spirále nucených prodejů, která fond v létě tak tvrdě zasáhla.

Obrázek byl vygenerován v AI.

Micron (MU -3.62%) may be entering a new paradigm. The company operates in a cyclical industry, but Micron is taking steps to reduce its cyclicality over the next few years. This could transform Micron into a viable investment option and make it well worth buying stock in, as it looks ready to soar over the next few years.

But by how much? Let's take a look.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

A few comments guide Micron's trajectory
There has been no shortage of estimates regarding the strength of the artificial intelligence build-out. Some projections come from its peers and clients in the industry, while others come from its own management. During Micron's latest quarterly earnings report, management noted that they expect the "supply demand conditions to be much tighter in FY 2027 and 2028 than they were during 2026." That's a notable statement, as 2026's conditions were pretty tight. This led to soaring memory chip prices in 2026, and it could lead to even more expensive chips in the future.

However, Micron isn't sitting idle. It's racing to build more production facilities and expects its Idaho fabrication facility to begin producing chips in mid-2027, with its second Idaho facility starting production in late 2028. However, Micron still projects that memory chips will be in short supply. So, if Micron can increase its output dramatically while maintaining today's high prices, it could lead to incredible growth for the company. But it's not done there.

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Micron is starting to sign long-term customer agreements that are locking in floor and ceiling prices for memory chips through 2030. These are also take-or-pay agreements, so Micron is locking in revenue streams. Some of these agreements extend into 2031, indicating an even longer AI growth trajectory.

One long-term AI growth trajectory projection comes from Nvidia, which has repeatedly told investors to expect $3 trillion to $4 trillion in global AI data center capital expenditures annually by 2030. In 2026, Nvidia expects the big five AI hyperscalers to spend nearly $800 billion. If you estimate what others beyond the big five are spending, it's easy to see total capital expenditures sitting around $1 trillion this year.

So, the AI market could triple by 2030. This has huge implications for Micron, as its stock could be ready to skyrocket.

Micron is cheap and has huge growth
First off, Micron has hardly any growth priced into its stock for next year. It only trades at 5.6 times forward earnings.

MU PE Ratio (Forward) data by YCharts

The market is still pricing in a cyclical downturn in the near future, even though Micron has already told investors it won't happen anytime soon. This could lead to the stock at least tripling by the end of 2027, simply by rising to a reasonable valuation. Combine that with the AI market tripling to quadrupling as a whole by 2030, and there is a massive amount of upside baked into the stock.

So, how much could a $2,500 investment in Micron be worth by 2030? If all of the projections stated above come true, when Micron's fabrication facilities come online and start producing a large number of chips as expected, I think investors can expect the stock to grow more than 5-fold. How? First, Micron starts to trade at a reasonable 20 times earnings. I think this is somewhat realistic, as Micron has entered into long-term purchasing agreements with its clients that will reduce the effects of cyclical downturns. As a result, the market will give it a more respectable premium. That takes care of the stock rising about threefold to fourfold.

For the remainder of its growth, I'd point toward Nvidia's projection that data center capital expenditures will triple to quadruple by the time 2030 rolls around. That will mostly be from more computing chips needed, and every computing chip needs memory, potentially sourced from Micron. With that much growth ahead, I think it's pretty reasonable to expect Micron's business to double or triple. That would suggest a $2,500 investment in Micron could be worth $12,500, which makes the stock an absolute no-brainer buy at today's prices.

Micron is taking steps to ensure it isn't as cyclical, and this could make it a strong investment in the AI revolution.

The ETF ecosystem grows almost every day, with hundreds of new strategies and massive flows coming with each year that goes by. Thanks to the ETF wrapper's flexibility, issuers can craft and release targeted, transparent, and tax-efficient solutions for portfolios.

Micron Technology (MU -3.62%) hasn't been a heavy buyer of its own stock. From fiscal 2019, when the current repurchase program made its first purchases, through fiscal 2026, the memory chipmaker spent $7.84 billion on buybacks. It never spent over $2.66 billion in any one year.

But Micron's annual report, filed Oct. 9, says the board lifted the buyback authorization to $35.16 billion on Oct. 8. The new cap is over four times what the company spent in those eight fiscal years combined.

I expect Micron will top that eight-year total in the next 12 months. But the buyback might do less for the share count than a number this big suggests.

Image source: Micron.

One quarter's cashThe board's number comes almost entirely from a single quarter. The report says the total begins with the $2.16 billion left under Micron's earlier $10 billion authorization. Then it adds 100% of the last quarter's non-GAAP (adjusted) free cash flow after dividends, or around $33 billion.

Showing how unusual the quarter was, Micron's adjusted free cash flow (the cash left after capital spending) reached $33.2 billion in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026 (the period ended Sept. 3, 2026). And it's been climbing fast, from $803 million a year earlier and $18.3 billion in fiscal Q3. For all of fiscal 2026, free cash flow totaled $62.3 billion -- up from $3.7 billion in fiscal 2025. In other words, eight years of buybacks now equal around 24% of the free cash flow Micron generated during one quarter.

Management expects even more. Micron's CFO, Mark Murphy, told analysts on the Sept. 30 earnings call that free cash flow this quarter should be significantly higher than in fiscal Q4.

He also said that the company has "the ability and the intent to increase our capital return."

The board raised the authorization eight days later.

What could stop it?Of course, the authorization doesn't force Micron to buy any shares.

And the company's federal CHIPS Act funding agreements, which provide grants of up to $6.4 billion for its U.S. plants, put conditions on buybacks. For the first two years after the Dec. 9, 2024 award, repurchases are mainly limited to amounts meant to help offset employee stock awards. That seems to be why the bigger program begins on Dec. 9, 2026. For three years after that, repurchases face caps tied to free cash flow after grants and dividends.

Micron also hasn't bought much recently. It spent $300 million on buybacks in fiscal 2024, nothing in fiscal 2025, and $650 million in fiscal 2026.

Yes, artificial intelligence demand could soften, and a steep fall in memory prices could change the plan. But to pass its eight-year total, Micron has to use only around 22% of what the board just approved.

A record year of buybacks may not cut Micron's share count, though. Its average number of shares outstanding climbed from 1.105 billion in fiscal 2024 to 1.116 billion in fiscal 2025 and 1.127 billion in fiscal 2026, mainly due to employee stock awards. That comes out to around 11 million more shares each year.

With shares near $985 as of this writing, $7.84 billion buys around 8 million shares. Micron could match eight years of buyback spending in one year and still not offset a single year of that growth.

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The reason is the stock price. In fiscal 2019, the program's peak year, $2.66 billion retired 67 million shares. The same money buys under 3 million shares now.

Even the full $35.16 billion works out to about 35 million shares -- roughly 3% of the 1.13 billion outstanding. Earlier this month, I estimated that Micron's excess cash could retire about 5% of its shares per year. Getting there would take another increase from the board.

Buying back stock at today's price still arguably makes sense. Micron earned $74.33 a share in fiscal 2026, up from $7.59 in fiscal 2025, and it expects around $38 a share this quarter alone. At about 13 times fiscal 2026 earnings, the shares don't look pricey given that forecast.

In the end, Micron should top its eight-year buyback total easily. But at today's share price, I doubt the buyback will do much for earnings per share anytime soon. The stock's next move likely still depends more on memory prices than on the buyback.

China's Chip Challenge Sends Micron Stock Tumbling as AI Trade Faces Fresh Pressure

Summary

China’s memory-chip makers are stepping up competition just as a broader semiconductor sell-off puts fresh pressure on Micron shares

Micron Technology MU shares fell 4% in Tuesday morning trading as investors assessed the growing capabilities of Chinese memory-chip producers and a broader retreat across semiconductor stocks.

China's ChangXin Memory Technologies is reportedly developing server memory using a 4F² cell design, which allows more memory cells to fit within a given chip area. The product could reach the market later this year, potentially adding competition as artificial intelligence infrastructure spending drives demand for memory components.

The competitive picture is also changing in NAND flash memory, used for data storage. Counterpoint Research said China's Yangtze Memory Technologies ranked third globally by NAND shipment volume in the second quarter and is preparing for a potential listing on Shanghai's STAR Market.

The sector's decline extended beyond Micron, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index losing about 3% during the session. Mizuho analyst Jordan Klein said heavy investor exposure to AI-related stocks has left the trade vulnerable to sharp swings. Although Chinese suppliers are advancing in conventional memory, more complex stacked high-bandwidth memory used in AI systems may present a greater technical challenge, according to comments cited in the report.

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.

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13.10.2026 19:28

Americké akciové trhy dnes opět mírně oslabují, když pokračující výprodej v polovodičích převážil nad vesměs solidním začátkem výsledkové sezóny velkých bank. S&P 500 se drží poblíž rekordních úrovní, ale v průběhu obchodování ztrácí zhruba 0,1 %, Nasdaq Composite odepisuje 0,2 % a Dow Jones klesá přibližně o 0,3 %. Sentiment zhoršují obavy z rostoucí konkurence v paměťových čipech poté, co čínská CXMT oznámila technologický průlom v DRAM a nový datacentrový čipový design plánovaný k uvedení do konce roku. Investoři zároveň vyhodnocují výsledky JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup a Wells Fargo, které ukázaly pokračující ochotu bank půjčovat a odolnou poptávku po úvěrech, ale reakce akcií byla smíšená. Pozornost se přesouvá také k makru: ve středu bude zveřejněna inflace CPI a ve čtvrtek výrobní ceny PPI, přičemž opční trh podle Citigroup očekává u S&P 500 ve středu pohyb zhruba o 0,75 % na jednu či druhou stranu.

Sektorově jsou nejslabší částí trhu technologie, zejména polovodiče a paměťové tituly. Z velkých společností s kapitalizací nad 200 mld. USD tvoří technologické tituly sedm z deseti nejslabších akcií tohoto dne. Naopak energetické akcie patří mezi nejlepší sektor v S&P 500 a rostou o více než 1 %. Bankovní sektor zůstává citlivý na výsledkovou sezónu. Ropa Brent klesá k 105 USD za barel navzdory přetrvávajícímu napětí na Blízkém východě. Výnos desetiletého amerického dluhopisu se pohybuje kolem 5,25 %, zatímco investoři dál řeší, zda vysoké náklady kapitálu nezačnou více zatěžovat valuace i návratnost masivních investic do AI infrastruktury.

Z jednotlivých titulů nejvíce ztrácí Micron Technology (MU), který v kategorii velkých firem vede poklesy se ztrátou 5,2 % kvůli zprávám o pokroku čínské CXMT v DRAM technologii. Pod tlakem jsou i další paměťové a úložné tituly: americky obchodované akcie SK Hynix (SKHY -4,59 %) ztrácí takřka 5 %, Sandisk (SNDK) ztrácí 2,84 % a negativní nálada zasahuje také Seagate Technology (STX  -2,79 %) a Western Digital (WDC -2,94 %). Nvidia (NVDA) odepisuje 0,2 % a AMD 0,3 %, tedy relativně méně než paměťové tituly. Z bank Goldman Sachs (GS) roste o 0,5–0,7 % po lepších výsledcích, tažených mimo jiné silným výkonem akciového tradingu, a JPMorgan (JPM -0,19) se drží mírně v záporu po zvýšení celoročního výhledu čistého úrokového výnosu. Naopak Citigroup (C) klesá o 4,05 % i přes lepší výsledky a vyšší výhled čistého úrokového výnosu, zatímco Wells Fargo (WFC) ztrácí 1,8 % po zaostání tržeb za konsensem. Mimo finanční sektor oslabuje Domino’s Pizza (DPZ -3,32 %) po slabším růstu srovnatelných tržeb v domácích prodejnách, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) klesá kvůli slabšímu růstu zdravotnických přístrojů, zatímco UnitedHealth (UNH -0,23 %) osciluje kolem nuly po příznivém výhledu.

Index Dow Jones -0,35 % na 51670,01 b.
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Index S&P 500 -0,12 % na 7798,07 b. Nejsilnější sektory S&P Změna Nejslabší sektory S&P Změna Energie +1,2 % Zdravotní péče -1,2 % Komunikační služby +1,1 % Průmysl -0,8 % Utility +0,3 % Informační technologie -0,2 % Nejsilnější akcie S&P Změna Nejslabší akcie S&P Změna CDW Corp/DE (CDW) +4,7 % Applied Materials (AMAT) -8,9 % International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) +4,2 % Flex (FLEX) -7,1 % Charter Communications (CHTR) +3,7 % Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) -6,2 % Centene Corp (CNC) +3,6 % Take-Two Interactive Software (TTWO) -5,4 % First Solar (FSLR) +3,6 % Micron Technology (MU) -5,4 %
Martin Varecha
Fio banka, a.s.
Prohlášení

NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC lowered its position in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU – Free Report) by 21.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 24,688 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 6,636 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC’s holdings in Micron Technology were worth $25,572,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MU. DWR Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Micron Technology in the third quarter valued at about $209,000. Perpetual Ltd boosted its stake in Micron Technology by 408.7% in the 3rd quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 42,495 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $45,262,000 after buying an additional 34,141 shares in the last quarter. Vertrix Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 12.0% during the third quarter. Vertrix Wealth Management LLC now owns 281 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $299,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. JGP Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Micron Technology by 19.3% in the third quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,354 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $2,507,000 after buying an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scott Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 50.9% in the 3rd quarter. Scott Capital Advisors LLC now owns 347 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $377,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Micron Technology Here are the key news stories impacting Micron Technology this week:

Positive Sentiment: Micron increased its share-repurchase authorization to a record $35.16 billion, with buybacks expected to begin shortly. The plan signals management’s confidence in cash generation and could support earnings per share. Why Is Micron Stock Rising Today? Positive Sentiment: Micron’s latest results substantially exceeded expectations, with $54.23 billion in revenue and $33.42 in adjusted EPS, while revenue surged 379% year over year. Analysts remain optimistic about AI-related memory demand, tight DRAM supply and long-term customer agreements. One bullish analyst raised a price target to $3,000, while several research firms continue to rate MU favorably. Micron: More For Longer Neutral Sentiment: Despite the recent pullback, valuation screens continue to identify Micron as an attractive value and growth stock, with a low forward earnings multiple and strong earnings momentum. However, investor sentiment remains cautious after the stock’s substantial year-to-date advance. Micron Is a Top-Ranked Value Stock Negative Sentiment: China’s ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) reported progress on a denser “4F square” DRAM design aimed at server memory. The development has renewed concerns that Chinese competition could eventually pressure Micron’s pricing power, margins and market share. Micron Stock Falls on Competition From China Rival CXMT Negative Sentiment: Elon Musk’s warning regarding Chinese memory chips added to the market’s concerns, while a broader selloff in semiconductor shares and weakness in South Korean technology stocks amplified pressure on MU. Micron Stock Falls Again as Musk Issues Warning on Chinese Memory Negative Sentiment: Investors are also questioning whether AI infrastructure spending can remain strong after Australian data-center company Firmus canceled its IPO because of weak demand. Any slowdown in AI investment could reduce future demand for Micron’s high-value memory products. Nvidia and Micron Received Bad News From an Unlikely Place Insider Buying and Selling at Micron Technology In other Micron Technology news, EVP Sumit Sadana sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $934.29, for a total transaction of $14,014,350.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 191,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $178,469,010.09. The trade was a 7.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sanjay Mehrotra sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $968.90, for a total transaction of $38,756,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 264,503 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $256,276,956.70. This represents a 13.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 95,879 shares of company stock worth $90,939,466. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock. Micron Technology Price Performance Shares of MU opened at $989.04 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.94, a current ratio of 3.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Micron Technology, Inc. has a twelve month low of $186.25 and a twelve month high of $1,255.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.12 trillion, a P/E ratio of 13.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.18 and a beta of 2.22. The company has a 50 day moving average of $983.23 and a 200-day moving average of $849.12.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 30th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $33.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $31.77 by $1.65. Micron Technology had a net margin of 63.80% and a return on equity of 92.62%. The business had revenue of $54.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $51.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 379.1% on a year-over-year basis. Micron Technology has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 37.150-39.150 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 175.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 14th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 14th. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is presently 0.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth MU has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $1,200.00 target price on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Wolfe Research set a $1,500.00 price objective on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $1,600.00 price objective on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Thursday, October 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-one have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,407.88.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on MU

(Free Report)

Micron Technology, Inc is a semiconductor company that develops and manufactures memory and storage solutions. Its product portfolio includes dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), NAND flash memory, three-dimensional XPoint-related technologies, solid-state drives, and high-bandwidth memory products designed for demanding computing applications.

The company serves customers across the data center, artificial intelligence, networking, automotive, industrial, mobile, consumer electronics, and embedded markets.

Read More Five stocks we like better than Micron Technology Salesforce Just Got a Rare Double Upgrade—What Changed? OpenAI’s Revenue Scare Could Be a Big Opportunity for Investors China Still Dominates Rare Earths—These 3 U.S. Companies Could Benefit 3 REITs That May Win in a Higher Interest Rate Environment

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Key Takeaways Micron's HBM4 ramp-up and higher contract prices could lift margins further amid robust AI memory demand.MU's Q4'26 gross margin hit 87%, while HBM4 production is ramping twice as fast as HBM3E.Micron secured most 2027 HBM supply deals at higher prices, potentially narrowing the margin gap with DRAM. Micron Technology, Inc. (MU - Free Report) is positioned to benefit from the rising demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) as AI companies build more powerful data centers. Its HBM4 ramp-up could support further margin growth if strong demand, higher prices and efficient production continue.

Micron’s fourth-quarter 2026 revenues jumped 379.3% year over year to $54.23 billion, while the full fiscal 2026 top line surged 256.3% to $133.19 billion. The fourth-quarter non-GAAP gross margin reached 87%, up from 45.7% in the year-ago quarter. The company’s full fiscal 2026 gross margin reached 81.1% from 41.1% in fiscal 2025, highlighting the benefits of favorable memory pricing and strong demand.

HBM is an important part of this opportunity. Micron reported that HBM revenues grew faster than total company revenues in the fourth quarter. It has also completed agreements covering most of its HBM bit supply for calendar year 2027, with significantly higher prices than the previous year. These agreements offer better revenue visibility and could help support profitability as shipments increase.

Micron’s HBM4 progress adds another growth opportunity. The company said its 12-high HBM4 production ramp-up is advancing twice as fast as the comparable HBM3E generation, and it has already shipped more than $1 billion in HBM4 revenues. Faster production growth and better manufacturing yields could help reduce costs and improve returns as volumes rise.

Pricing is another potential margin driver. Micron has secured most of its 2027 HBM supply agreements at significantly higher year-over-year prices. Management expects these prices to narrow the gross-margin gap between HBM and conventional DRAM. However, the actual benefit will depend on production costs, product yields and how quickly shipments increase.

Micron’s HBM4 ramp-up and higher contract prices provide a strong foundation for further margin improvement. Its 87% fourth-quarter gross margin already reflects favorable market conditions, but sustaining such high levels will depend on execution and continued AI spending. For the first quarter of fiscal 2027, Micron expects non-GAAP gross margin of approximately 86.25%.

How Do Rivals Fare Against Micron in AI Memory Space?Micron’s major competitors, SK hynix (SKHY - Free Report) and Sandisk Corporation (SNDK - Free Report) , are also benefiting from AI-led demand for memory and storage solutions.

SK hynix is one of Micron’s closest DRAM rivals and has a strong position in HBM, which is critical for AI accelerators. In the second quarter of 2026, SK hynix generated 79.3 trillion Korean won in revenues, up 257% year over year, while operating profit surged 557% to 60.5 trillion won. HBM, AI-server DRAM and enterprise SSDs drove the strong results.

Sandisk is more focused on NAND and storage than DRAM, but it is another stock that stands to benefit from AI infrastructure spending. Its fiscal 2026 revenues jumped 175% to $20.25 billion, while data-center revenues soared 437% to $5.15 billion. Sandisk’s fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 revenues also surged 372% sequentially to $8.97 billion, showing strong demand for storage products used in data centers.

Both companies highlight the broadening AI-driven demand for memory and storage, although Micron remains particularly well-positioned in DRAM and HBM.

Micron’s Price Performance, Valuation & EstimatesShares of Micron have surged 246.5% year to date compared with the Zacks Computer and Technology sector’s return of 23.4%.

Micron Technology YTD Price Return Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

From a valuation standpoint, MU trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 5.47, significantly lower than the sector’s average of 20.93.

Micron Technology 12-Month Forward P/E Ratio
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Micron’s fiscal 2027 and 2028 earnings implies year-over-year increases of 133.9% and 20.6%, respectively. Bottom-line estimates for fiscal 2027 and 2028 have been revised upward over the past 30 days.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Micron currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Micron Technology (MU -5.11%) stock has been falling in recent days, but its market cap remains above the $1 trillion mark for now. While some investors worry about its high valuation, others believe that it's still an incredibly cheap buy with loads of upside, given how cheap it is with respect to earnings.

Ultimately, it comes down to expectations. Those who believe the memory shortage will come to an end in the near future are bearish, while those who expect this to be a new normal and for Micron's numbers to continue soaring are in the bullish camp.

One extremely bullish analyst recently gave Micron's stock an astounding price target -- $3,000.

Image source: Getty Images.

Analysts are generally bullish on Micron's stockThe consensus analyst price target for Micron is just over $1,400, which implies an upside of around 50% based on where it's trading today. And of the 46 analyst ratings, 42 rate the stock as a buy.

One of the more bullish analysts is Gil Luria, from D.A. Davidson. Luria recently set a price target of $3,000 for Micron, raising it from $2,100 previously. That's currently the highest price target for the memory stock, and it suggests an upside of more than 200% for investors who buy it today.

It's an extremely bullish outlook for the stock, and it centers around the expectation that investors will pay a higher earnings multiple for the stock in the future, and that the memory shortage won't come to an end anytime soon. Currently, the stock is trading at an incredibly low forward price-to-earnings multiple of just seven, which is based on analyst expectations. That suggests that there is some apprehension around Micron and its future. Otherwise, investors would surely be buying up the stock at such a modest-looking valuation.

It's important to note, however, that analyst expectations can and will change with new information. But for now, many still remain fairly bullish on Micron.

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Micron's stock has plenty of upside, but it's also highly volatileIf the memory shortage does end up lasting for several years, then there could indeed be plenty more room for Micron's stock to rise higher. But in the tech sector, things can change rapidly. And even if the shortage may not end soon, if the market sees an end in sight, investors may sell off before that happens to secure profits.

For investors who are willing to take on that risk and volatility, Micron may be a good buy now that it has dipped below $1,000.

Key Takeaways Five low-leverage stocks offer investors potential amid technology pullbacks and market uncertainty.Casey's General Stores posted 3.2% inside same-store sales growth and nearly 28% EPS growth to $7.37.Vince Holdings' net sales rose 11.7%, while adjusted net income jumped 176% to $13.5 million.

Wall Street kicked off this week on a mixed note. While the Dow Jones managed to edge higher, both the S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq slipped under pressure from rising oil prices and technology pullbacks. 

Despite recent market rallies, persistent macroeconomic pressure and geopolitical flashpoints — including recent Houthi strikes against Saudi airport infrastructure and elevated tensions in the Strait of Hormuz — continue to fuel market uncertainty. 

Against this backdrop, for risk-averse investors concerned about high-beta swings, pivoting toward low-leverage companies offers a more defensive strategy.

These financially prudent firms maintain strong balance sheets with minimal debt, equipping them to navigate shifting interest rates and economic headwinds. By containing financial risk while generating consistent cash flows, low-leverage stalwarts provide a durable foundation for your portfolio and an effective hedge against energy-driven downturns.

Hence, we recommend low-leverage stocks, such as Micron Technology (MU - Free Report) , Casey’s General Stores (CASY - Free Report) , Ganesco (GCO - Free Report) , Plains Group (PAGP - Free Report) and Vince Holding (VNCE - Free Report) .   

Before selecting low-leverage stocks, it is important to understand what leverage is and how investing in low-leverage companies can benefit investors.

What’s the Significance of Low-Leverage Stocks?In finance, leverage refers to the use of borrowed capital to support business operations and drive expansion. Companies typically raise such funds through debt financing, although equity financing remains an alternative. However, firms often prefer debt due to its relatively lower cost and easier availability compared to issuing equity.

Debt financing comes with inherent risks and is beneficial only when it generates returns that exceed the cost of borrowing. To limit downside risk, investors should be cautious of companies that rely excessively on debt. Prudent investing involves selecting businesses with manageable leverage, as completely debt-free companies are rare.

The equity market can be volatile at times. As an investor, if you want to avoid significant losses, we suggest focusing on stocks with low leverage, which are generally deemed less risky.

To identify such stocks, several leverage ratios have historically been developed to measure the amount of debt a company carries. The debt-to-equity ratio is among the most widely used financial ratios.

Analyzing Debt/EquityDebt-to-Equity Ratio = Total Liabilities/Shareholders’ Equity

This metric is a liquidity ratio that indicates the amount of financial risk a company bears. A lower debt-to-equity ratio suggests improved solvency for a company.

With the third-quarter 2026 earnings season in its first lap, investors should focus on stocks that have demonstrated solid earnings growth in recent periods.

If a stock carries a high debt-to-equity ratio during an economic downturn, its seemingly strong earnings could quickly turn into a nightmare.

The Winning StrategyConsidering the aforementioned factors, it would be prudent to choose stocks with a low debt-to-equity ratio to ensure steady returns.

Yet, an investment strategy based solely on the debt-to-equity ratio might not fetch the desired outcome. To select stocks with the potential to provide steady returns, we have expanded our screening criteria to include additional factors.

Other Parameters:

Debt/Equity Less Than X-Industry Median: Stocks that are less leveraged than their industry peers.

Current Price Greater Than or Equal to 10: The stocks must be trading at $10 or higher.

Average 20-day Volume Greater Than or Equal to 50000: A substantial trading volume ensures that the stock is easily tradable.

Percentage Change in EPS F(0)/F(-1) Greater Than X-Industry Median: Earnings growth adds to optimism, leading to a stock’s price appreciation.

VGM Score of A or B: Our research shows that stocks with a VGM Score of A or B, when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy), offer the best upside potential.

Estimated One-Year EPS Growth F (1)/F(0) Greater Than 5: This shows earnings growth expectations.

Zacks Rank #1 or 2: Irrespective of market conditions, stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 or 2 have a proven history of success.

Excluding stocks that have a negative or zero debt-to-equity ratio, we present our five picks out of the 19 that made it through the screen.

Micron Technology: It manufactures and markets high-performance memory and storage technologies, including Dynamic Random Access Memory, NAND flash memory, NOR Flash and other technologies. On Sept. 30, 2026, Micron announced its fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 results. 
The company’s quarterly revenues improved a massive 266.3% year over year to $41.46 billion, while its adjusted earnings per share (EPS) surged from $3.03 to $33.42 in the fiscal fourth quarter. 

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MU’s fiscal 2027 revenues indicates an improvement of 105.1% from the prior-year reported level. The stock boasts a long-term (three-to-five-years) earnings growth rate of 32.60%. It currently sports a Zacks Rank #1.

Casey’s General Stores: It is an American convenience store chain and the third-largest convenience store retailer in the United States. On Sept. 8, 2026, the company announced its first-quarter fiscal 2026 results. Its inside same-store sales increased 3.2% year over year, while its EPS improved nearly 28% to $7.37. 

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CASY’s fiscal 2026 revenues indicates an improvement of 16.9% from the prior-year reported actuals. The stock currently boasts a long-term earnings growth rate of 14.30% and a Zacks Rank of 2. 

Ganesco: It is a specialty retail and branded company, which sells footwear and accessories in retail stores.  On Sept. 15, 2026, Ganesco announced the launch of its Wrangler footwear collection, marking a milestone in its multiyear licensing agreement with Kontoor Brands and its legendary denim and lifestyle brand. 

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GCO’s fiscal 2027 earnings indicates an improvement of 62.1% from the prior-year reported number. The stock currently boasts a four-quarter average earnings surprise of 11.16% and a Zacks Rank of 1. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Plains Group: It is involved in the transportation, storage, terminalling, and marketing of crude oil and refined products. It also focuses on the processing, transportation, fractionation, storage, and marketing of natural gas liquids, including ethane and natural gasoline products, as well as propane and butane products. 

On Sept. 16, 2026, the company announced that a wholly owned subsidiary of it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire SCM PR II, LLC (Silver Creek) from subsidiaries of Tailwater Capital and The Energy and Minerals Group for an aggregate cash consideration of $585 million. Silver Creek owns and operates one of the largest integrated crude oil gathering systems in the Powder River Basin, serving a diversified customer base that includes many of the basin’s leading producers.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for PAGP’s 2026 revenues indicates an improvement of 30.6% from the prior-year reported actuals. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for PAGP’s 2026 earnings indicates an improvement of 236.2% from the prior-year reported numbers. It currently sports a Zacks Rank #1. 

Vince Holdings: It offers a broad range of women's and men's ready-to-wear apparel, including its signature cashmere sweaters, leather jackets, luxe leggings, dresses, silk and woven tops, denim and footwear. On Sept. 10, 2026, the company announced its second-quarter fiscal 2026 results. Its net sales increased 11.7% year over year to $81.8 million, while adjusted net income improved a solid 175.5% to $13.5 million. 

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for VNCE’s fiscal 2026 revenues indicates an improvement of 14% from the prior-year reported actuals. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for VNCE’s fiscal 2026 earnings implies a solid surge of 175% from the prior-year reported figures. The stock currently sports a Zacks Rank #1.

Jim Cramer declared chips a broken trade and software the new king of AI, but the numbers behind his argument depend entirely on where you start the clock.

The weakness in tech is the biggest concern Tom White has heading into Tuesday's trading session, noting the tech-heavy Kospi index in South Korean seeing a huge overnight decline. "Watch the chips today," says Tom, as momentum in names like Nvidia (NVDA), Micron (MU), and AMD Inc. (AMD) have power to dictate market moves.

SummaryMicron Technology, Inc. demonstrates superior growth and profitability metrics versus peers while trading at a significant valuation discount.MU's AI-driven memory demand, multi-year strategic customer agreements, and disciplined cost controls underpin robust revenue and margin expansion.My DCF-based fair value estimate is $1,500.36 per share, 52.5% above current levels, with a Strong Buy rating justified by conservative assumptions.MU stock risks include potential AI bubble deflation and geopolitical trade barriers, but ongoing data center buildouts and new applications support a bullish outlook. Getty Images

Investing Thesis Micron Technology, Inc. (MU) has strong profitability and growth metrics compared to its peers, exceeding the means and medians on nearly all metrics of both categories. Meanwhile, its valuation metrics are cheaper than

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Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. 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.

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