Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

Micron stock was facing more pressure after Elon Musk gave his opinion on China-produced memory chips.

October to December has been the best time of the year for Micron Technology (MU -3.88%) shareholders. From 2016 through 2025, the memory maker's shares climbed about 19% on average in the fourth quarter, based on quarter-end closing prices. That average is almost twice its second-best quarter, the January-to-March period, at about 10%. And the stock finished higher in seven of those 10 fourth quarters.

This year's fourth quarter is off to a weak start, though. Shares are near $983 as of this writing, down about 8% from their Sept. 30 close and about 19% under their record close of $1,213.56 on June 25.

A calendar pattern on its own isn't a reason to buy a stock. But Micron's fourth-quarter history seems to track which way the memory cycle is heading. And this year, I think the picture looks far more like the good years than the bad ones.

Image source: Micron.

When the pattern brokeThe three years the shares didn't climb were years when Micron's business was weakening.

In 2018, the stock sank around 30% in the fourth quarter, most of it ahead of Micron's Dec. 18 report. When it did report, CEO Sanjay Mehrotra cited "weak near-term industry supply-demand dynamics entering calendar 2019."

In 2022, shares edged down 0.2% as fiscal first-quarter revenue fell 47% year over year to $4.09 billion, and management's guidance for the next quarter was even lower, at around $3.8 billion.

In 2024, the stock dropped around 19% even though Micron posted record quarterly revenue of $8.71 billion. Its forecast for the following quarter was around $7.9 billion, and almost all of that quarter's decline came after the Dec. 18 report. Back then, Mehrotra said "consumer-oriented markets are weaker in the near term."

Granted, a lower outlook wasn't automatically a bad sign. Micron guided lower in December 2019, too, but it said it was optimistic its fiscal second quarter would be "the cyclical bottom." Shares climbed about 25% in the last three months of 2019.

Micron's next report still matters as a checkpoint. Its fiscal first quarter ends in late November or early December, and the company has usually reported it in December -- last year's report was on Dec. 17. As 2024 showed, a soft outlook there might break the pattern late in the quarter.

Memory prices are still rising, just more slowlyThis year's business looks nothing like those years. Micron's revenue for its fiscal fourth quarter of 2026 (the 14-week period ended Sept. 3, 2026) hit a record $54.2 billion, up 379% from a year earlier, and management expects about $61.5 billion for fiscal Q1.

Micron says demand driven by artificial intelligence sets it up for a record fiscal 2027. And chief financial officer Mark Murphy said in his prepared remarks that the company expects "sequential revenue growth each quarter."

Revenue growth has slowed from fiscal Q3's 74% sequential leap, though. Fiscal Q4's 31% rise was padded by the extra week. Without that week, revenue climbed about 21%, and the fiscal Q1 forecast suggests a similar rate.

Pricing is where the slowdown shows. In fiscal Q3, Micron said its DRAM prices went up by a percentage in the low 60s from the previous quarter. In fiscal Q4, the gain was in the high teens. Market researcher TrendForce forecasts conventional DRAM contract prices to climb 10% to 15% in the fourth quarter of 2026 compared to the third.

Prices are rising more slowly, not dropping. That's a far cry from the Decembers of 2018, 2022 and 2024, when Micron warned investors of softer conditions.

Micron plans to lift its fiscal 2027 capital spending beyond previous plans, with a lot of the increase headed to new cleanroom space. Still, Mehrotra said the company does "not have line of sight to when supply and demand will return to balance."

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Is the stock a buy before year-end?Investors are paying very little for that outlook. At around $983, shares trade at about 13 times Micron's fiscal 2026 earnings of $74.33 a share. Using analysts' estimates for fiscal 2027, which started in September, the stock trades at around 6 times earnings.

In other words, the stock costs about six years of this year's expected profit. Arguably, it's the sort of price investors normally pay for a value stock, which suggests they expect memory's boom to cool eventually.

Granted, slower price gains are often how a memory cycle starts to turn. And an outlook that hints at flattening demand could break the pattern again. But Micron expects growth in every quarter of fiscal 2027.

I wouldn't buy Micron on the calendar alone. But this year, the company's own outlook points in the same direction as history, and I'd consider buying the stock ahead of its next report -- though only as a small position that leaves room for risk, and with expectations for significant volatility.

One ETF, one monthly deposit, zero rebalancing: it sounds like the perfect retirement setup for a 72-year-old, but the math reveals some uncomfortable gaps between the best months and the worst.

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Some retirees are drawn to the simplest income plan imaginable: put everything into a single fund that pays monthly. For a 72-year-old, that would mean one holding, one statement, one deposit, and nothing to rebalance. So let’s see what it would actually take to do that with the JPMorgan Nasdaq Equity Premium Income ETF (NASDAQ:JEPQ). The goal is $4,300 a month, or $51,600 a year, with JEPQ making up 100% of the portfolio.

JEPQ’s payout changes monthly by design, so a retiree should plan for how much the $4,300 will swing.

Where JEPQ’s Monthly Check Comes From
JEPQ holds a portfolio of stocks drawn largely from the Nasdaq-100. The fund also sells call options on that index through equity-linked notes (ELNs), which are bank-issued securities that package the option income. Selling a call means the fund gives a buyer the right to purchase at a set price and makes a payment, called premium, for that right.

Premium pays the most when markets are jumpy and shrinks when they’re calm. The VIX, a measure of expected stock volatility, read 15 in early October, which falls in its normal range. JEPQ’s payout rate tracks market conditions, so it acts less like a conventional dividend yield.

What $4,300 a Month Costs at Today’s Rate
A starting assumption of a 10.5% distribution rate implied $497,143. The rate has since moved. JEPQ’s annualized forward distribution of $6.88 per share, with a price near $61, works out to about 11.3%. To generate $52,200 a year, you need roughly $462,820, or about 7,587 shares.

Plan Around the Low Months
JEPQ’s monthly payments have ranged from $0.33975 in July 2022 to $0.70497 in August 2026. For 7,587 shares, October’s $0.56687 payment delivered around $4,300. February 2026’s $0.46572 would have paid about $3,533, and August’s peak would have paid about $5,349. A repeat of the 2022 low would produce roughly $2,578.

Capped Rallies Weigh on a Long Retirement
Selling calls gives away profits above the strike price, so JEPQ lags when tech stocks run. Over the past year, JEPQ returned 19% with distributions included, while the Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) gained 23% on price alone. Year to date, JEPQ has returned about 15%, while QQQ has gained about 22%. Social Security’s 2027 cost-of-living adjustment is tracking toward 3.5%. A portfolio that trails in up markets may struggle to grow its income at that rate over a decades-long retirement.

One Fund Means One Point of Failure
JEPQ is large, with about $40.7 billion in net assets as of June 30, 2026, and it describes itself as non-diversified. NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA | NVDA Price Prediction) made up 7%, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) 6% and Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) 6%. The top five positions totaled about 27%, nearly all of them in technology and chip companies.

An all-JEPQ account rides on one manager, one strategy, and one index, so if Nasdaq tech slumps or the options overlay underperforms, the account has nothing else to lean on. At this level, the concentration leaves a retiree with no other assets and fully exposed to one fund.

Required Distributions Arrive at 73
Under IRS Publication 590-B, someone who turns 72 after December 31, 2022, must begin required minimum distributions by April 1 of the year after reaching 73. The IRS bases the requirement on the prior year-end account balance, regardless of what the fund paid. At current payout levels, distributions would likely cover it. Spending creates more pressure. In a February-style month, funding $4,300 means selling shares, often into weakness, and every share sold for good lowers future income.

Taxes Point Toward an IRA
ELN income is generally taxed as ordinary income, not qualified dividends, so it hits full bracket rates outside tax-advantaged accounts. Traditional IRA withdrawals are taxed as ordinary income anyway, so a tax-deferred account is the more natural home. The fund’s year-end tax form shows the actual breakdown.

Can JEPQ Carry a Whole Retirement?
It can generate income, but relying on it alone leaves the account exposed to a single strategy. A cash or short-term Treasury reserve covering a year or two of spending can absorb the low months. A broad dividend growth or total market fund can supply the growth that keeps income ahead of inflation (we laid out the full mix, payment calendar, and drawdown sequence in a free guide to turning savings into a monthly paycheck).

What to Check Before Committing
First, build the budget around about $3,574 per month instead of $4,300. Second, confirm the account type and when RMDs begin. Each quarter, compare the monthly per-share payout with the $0.56687 that funds $4,300 at this share count, and track the trailing 12-month total, currently $6.88.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

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Micron (Nasdaq: MU) stock sank 4.2% through 10:55 a.m. ET Monday -- and it's no great mystery why.

Three months ago, worries about the durability of artificial intelligence combined with the threat of new competition in memory chips from China to shave 36% off Micron's stock price.

An IPO by Chinese DRAM company ChangXin Memory Technologies, or CXMT, sparked much of the selling. Today, CXMT is back in the news.

Image source: Micron.

China news todayTradingView.com says CXMT has made "key progress" on technology to increase DRAM storage density. It reports that CXMT will release a new product targeting the AI data center market later this year.

CXMT isn't the only company working on "4F square" stacked DRAM architecture. Korean rivals SK Hynix and Samsung have both announced similar progress -- but that's not necessarily good news for U.S. memory producer Micron. It still adds one more company to the list of rivals making DRAM advances, and threatening to eat into Micron's market share.

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What it means for Micron stockBut here is some good news for Micron investors: Chris James, Managing Partner at U.K. and U.S. investment firm Quadri, points out the threat from CXMT may not even be as sharp as feared. Most investors first heard of CXMT when Apple asked the U.S. government for permission to buy DRAM chips from CXMT back in July. Apple reportedly changed its mind, however, when CXMT demanded prices even higher than SK and Samsung were charging for their chips!

Granted, Apple might rethink again if CXMT is making advances in DRAM tech that would make its chips worth the premium. But The Wall Street Journal reports that CXMT tech still trails Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron "by two or three generations."

CXMT may be catching up, but it's not there yet.

Rich Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Apple and Micron Technology. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

China’s ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) is advancing a denser DRAM design and targeting server memory, raising a question for Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU) and SK hynix Inc. (NASDAQ:SKHY): How long can today’s supply constraints protect their pricing power?

China Targets a New Memory MarketCXMT reported progress in a memory-cell architecture known as 4F² at an industry conference in Shanghai on Oct. 10, according to the South China Morning Post.

The design aims to fit more memory cells on a chip, potentially increasing density without a proportional increase in chip area. CXMT President Cao Kanyu said the company plans to introduce server-memory products using the architecture by the end of 2026.

That timeline matters because server memory is becoming more valuable as AI infrastructure expands. CXMT is no longer simply trying to supply lower-cost chips to consumer electronics manufacturers; it is pursuing products for the data centers that support enterprise computing.

The competition is already evident in the numbers: TrendForce data reported on Oct. 12 put CXMT’s share of global DRAM revenue at 9.5% in the second quarter, up from 7.6% in the first quarter. South Korea-based SK hynix held 24.9%, while Boise, Idaho-based Micron accounted for 23.3%.

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Why Micron and SK Hynix Aren’t Equally ExposedInvestors need to understand that conventional DRAM and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) are not interchangeable markets.

HBM stacks memory vertically and delivers the high data-transfer speeds advanced AI accelerators require. Micron and SK Hynix have benefited from this demand, while CXMT’s latest announcement centers on conventional server DRAM.

That limits what we can conclude from the announcement: CXMT has not shown it can immediately displace the leaders in advanced HBM. However, additional competition in conventional DRAM could eventually influence broader memory supply, pricing and manufacturers’ capital-allocation decisions.

The longer-term risk is not necessarily that Chinese chips replace premium AI memory overnight. It is that expanding supply in one part of the market changes the economics of another.

The Pricing Power TestThere is an important wrinkle for investors hoping China will quickly bring memory prices down. Reuters reported in July that CXMT had been raising prices as Chinese demand surged, with some buyers paying more than South Korean competitors for comparable server-memory modules.

Investors should watch whether CXMT delivers its planned server products on schedule and achieves meaningful production volumes. Until then, the announcement is a competitive warning, not proof that the AI memory boom is ending.

For Micron and SK Hynix, the key question is whether premium HBM demand can keep margins supported even as competition intensifies elsewhere in the memory market.

MU Price Action: Micron shares are trading down 2.48% at $1,003.45 in premarket trading on Monday.

SKHY Price Action: Sk shares are trading down 2.30% at $165.15 in premarket trading on Monday.

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Image via Shutterstock

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

Micron Technology, Inc. delivered record Q4 results, with revenue of $54.2B and adjusted EPS of $33.42, both exceeding guidance. MU's growth is broad-based, with data center SSD and non-HBM segments outpacing HBM, and strategic customer agreements securing $150B in revenue through 2030. I raise my 12-month base case price target to $1,232, citing robust margins, strong net cash of $68B, and undervalued multiples below 10x earnings.

Tech StocksA new disclosure about Micron’s buyback plans appears meant to show shareholders the company is more generous with cash than one of its key rivals, an analyst says

As Micron Technology investors await the resumption of share repurchases after a two-year pause, one analyst sees a sign that Micron plans to be more generous than one of its major peers.

In a Form 10-K filed on Friday, the memory-chip maker MU said its board of directors had authorized an additional $33 billion in buybacks, to bring its total authorization to $35.16 billion. As a recipient of funding from the Chips and Science Act in 2024, Micron has been restricted from buying back stock until December of this year.

Micron Technology MU and SK Hynix shares traded lower on Monday as investors assessed the competitive implications of progress by China's ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) in developing a new memory-chip design that can store more data. Broader weakness in technology shares added to the selling pressure as oil prices climbed to their highest levels in about two weeks.

In recent weeks, the top-rated Wall Street analyst for accuracy, Timothy Arcuri from UBS, took to revising his outlook for various major stocks and appears to have already settled on some likely winners for 2027.

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Micron's (MU -0.66%) stock closed at a record high of $1,255 per share on June 25, 2026. Today, the memory chipmaker's stock trades at about $1,030 per share. Let's see why it pulled back 18% -- and if investors should rely on its historical performance to see what happens next.

Micron is usually a cyclical stock Micron is one of the world's largest producers of DRAM and NAND (flash) memory chips. For decades, the memory market has gone through boom-and-bust cycles.

Image source: Getty Images.

Memory chipmakers typically ramp up their production when the growth of certain markets (PCs, servers, mobile devices, or vehicles) causes demand to outstrip supply. But those supply shortages eventually turn into supply gluts when they produce too many chips.

That's why Micron's stock has endured some steep peak-to-trough drawdowns over the past decade (73% from 2014 to 2016, 55% in 2018, 43% in 2020, 51% in 2021, and 36% in 2024) whenever the memory market cools off. Based on those historical downturns, Micron's 18% decline over the past four months could merely be the beginning of a deeper pullback.

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But Micron could buck that trend this time Micron's past cyclical declines were painful, but past performance isn't a reliable indicator of future gains or losses. That's because the explosive growth of the generative AI market over the past two years has fundamentally changed the bullish thesis for Micron's stock.

Starting in 2024, the AI boom created an insatiable demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, which are paired with Nvidia's (NVDA -0.52%) data center GPUs in AI clusters, and for NAND-powered enterprise solid-state drives (SSDs) to store and transfer all that data.

Manufacturing HBM chips also requires three times the wafer capacity as the production of a standard DRAM chip, so Micron's increased production of HBM chips throttled its own supply of DRAM chips for the PC, mobile device, and server markets. That imbalance -- which its larger competitors Samsung and SK Hynix (SKHY -0.86%) have also been grappling with -- drove up memory prices across the board and amplified the market's current growth cycle.

The bulls believe those AI tailwinds will significantly lengthen Micron's current growth cycle. From fiscal 2026 (which ended in September) to fiscal 2028, analysts expect its revenue and EPS to grow at CAGRs of 55% and 67%, respectively, as the AI boom continues. Based on those estimates, its stock still looks surprisingly cheap at six times this year's earnings.

While Micron's stock might eventually suffer a steeper pullback, investors shouldn't rely on its historical data to predict its future growth. For its current cycle, the AI catalysts could drive its stock much higher before the market's supply finally catches up to its feverish demand.

Two of the more popular artificial intelligence (AI) stocks among investors right now are Space Exploration Technologies (SPCX +1.25%) and Micron Technology (MU -0.66%). However, one clearly stands out as the better buy over the next five years: SpaceX.

Let's look at why I'd buy SpaceX and avoid Micron.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

If you want to invest in technological innovation and the future, SpaceX is one of your best options. Meanwhile, over the next five years, the company's growth is likely to be driven mostly by leasing data center infrastructure, AI coding, and satellite internet.

SpaceX has some of the best economics in the entire data center space, getting returns on its AI infrastructure spending within one year through short-term leases. With demand for compute so constrained, the company has been renting out its excess compute capacity at huge prices. It has a $1.25 billion-per-month lease deal with Anthropic that runs through 2029, worth a total of $84.5 billion. The company is investing aggressively in AI infrastructure, and expects to have total capacity near 2 gigawatts at the end of 2026 and closer to 10 gigawatts than 5 gigawatts at the end of 2027.

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In addition to its infrastructure-as-a-service business, the company has a huge opportunity with AI coding following its acquisition of Cursor. Morgan Stanley sees this as a $33 billion annual recurring revenue business by 2030, up from about $8 billion this year. The company's Starlink satellite internet business is also growing quickly, is profitable, and generates recurring revenue. Meanwhile, any advancements with its Starship rocket and future ventures, like putting data centers in space, should get investors excited.

CEO Elon Musk has set a goal for SpaceX to reach $1 trillion in revenue in 2030. That's well above the current $421.7 billion consensus, so if it gets anywhere close to Musk's target, the stock will have significant upside over the next five years.

Micron Technology One of the big three DRAM (dynamic random-access memory) makers, Micron, has been riding the memory supercycle to new heights. Soaring AI demand has led to surging memory prices, which have led to Micron's revenue skyrocketing and gross margin ballooning. Both DRAM (73% of Micron's revenue last quarter) and NAND (flash) are in short supply, which is driving up prices.

The current supply-demand imbalance in the DRAM market is expected to last through at least 2030, according to Micron rival SK Hynix. The reason is that the three companies that control the DRAM market, including Samsung, can't increase capacity fast enough to meet rising demand. A special form of DRAM called high bandwidth memory (HBM) is the main memory driver, as graphics processing units (GPUs) need to be packaged with the chips to optimize their performance; otherwise, these super-expensive chips sit around idle way too long.

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The big three DRAM manufacturers are pouring most of their resources into HBM, but the companies are struggling to keep pace. One of the biggest reasons for this is that these companies are competing for the same extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography systems needed to make advanced logic chips, like GPUs and CPUs, and there is only one company in the world, ASML, that makes these machines. On top of that, HBM uses upward of 3 times the wafer capacity as ordinary DRAM, and it also takes years to build out new cleanrooms.

Micron bulls argue that the HBM story makes the stock a buy, but it actually misses the point of what has been driving the company's performance. Micron actually derives only a small percentage of its revenue from HBM, likely less than 10%. It has the smallest HBM share in the market, at around 18% in Q2, in what is projected to be around a $55 billion market in 2026. Instead, Micron's revenue and margins are being driven by the surge in conventional DRAM and NAND prices, which have actually been rising faster than HBM prices.

The problem is that if and when conventional memory prices normalize over the next several years, Micron's earnings could collapse. That is why SpaceX is the better long-term bet, despite Micron trading at a much cheaper valuation on the surface.

Retail investors talked up five hot stocks during the week (Oct. 5 to Oct. 9) on X and Reddit’s r/WallStreetBets, driven by retail hype, earnings, AI infrastructure momentum, and corporate news flow.

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:SPCX), Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MU), Applied Digital Corp. (NASDAQ:APLD), Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD), and AST SpaceMobile Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS), spanning the aerospace/space technology, semiconductor memory, digital infrastructure/AI data centers, high-performance computing/semiconductors, and satellite telecommunications sectors, reflected strong retail interest.

Space Exploration Technologies SPCX was in focus this week after the FCC approved SpaceX’s next-generation non-geostationary mobile-satellite system for direct-to-device services on Oct. 6, strengthening its push into satellite connectivity. On Oct. 8, Grain Management agreed to sell SpaceX a nationwide 800 MHz spectrum portfolio, with terms undisclosed. The company also targeted an Oct. 15 Falcon 9 launch for the USSF-481 mission, while a SpaceX crew capsule returned from the ISS. Separately, Susquehanna maintained a Neutral rating and raised its price target to $173 on Oct. 7. Some retail traders said that SPCX’s purchase of Grain Management’s low-band spectrum portfolio puts it in direct competition with AST SpaceMobile. The stock has traded in the range of $104.83 to $225.64 since listing, trading around $159 to $167 per share, as of the publication of this article. It advanced by 7.05% since June 2026 and 4.63% over the last month. Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings showed that SPCX had a strong price trend in the short, long, and medium terms. Micron Technology MU stayed focused this week on bullish AI-memory forecasts, legal developments, and sector volatility. On Oct. 6, JPMorgan said Micron’s AI-memory boom could generate a $100 billion cash windfall, while Micron and Netlist agreed to resolve pending litigation, with Micron set to pay $30 million per quarter from the fourth quarter of 2026 through the third quarter of 2031. On Oct. 7, DA Davidson maintained a Buy rating and raised its price target to $3,000, even as Micron fell amid a broader chip-sector pullback and a Taiwan union strike-authorization vote. On Oct. 8, Bank of America said memory-chip sales could top $2 trillion by 2030, while MU later joined SK Hynix and SanDisk in a memory-stock selloff. On Oct. 9, commentary remained bullish, with analysts arguing Wall Street still undervalues Micron and Ross Gerber predicting heavy share buybacks once restrictions expire in December. Retail investors were very bullish on MU stock. -The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $179.61 to $1,255.00, trading around $1034 to $1054 per share, as of the publication of this article. It advanced by 427.04% over the last year and 154.68% over the last six months. The stock was up 262.93% year-to-date.

According to Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings, MU was maintaining a strong price trend over the short, medium, and long term, with a good quality score. Applied Digital APLD was in focus this week after announcing its first development opportunity outside the U.S., with access to up to 1 GW of potential power capacity in Finland on Oct. 6. The company then reported fiscal first-quarter results on Oct. 7, with an EPS loss of 1 cent versus a 29-cent loss estimate, prompting several analyst updates. On Oct. 8, Wells Fargo maintained Overweight and raised its price target to $55, Freedom Capital kept a Buy and $48 target, while Needham maintained Buy but cut its target to $70. Later that day, APLD and other AI-cloud names came under pressure after reports that OpenAI’s annualized revenue was about $20 billion below previously indicated levels, raising concerns about demand for outsourced AI compute capacity. Some retail investors recommended APLD as a short-squeeze candidate that can make money. The stock had a 52-week range of $19.00 to $50.72, trading around $22 to $25 per share, as of the publication of this article. It fell by 14.64% over the year and 14.81% in the last six months. The stock was down 2.73% YTD. APLD maintains a weak price trend over the long, medium, and short terms, as per Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings. Advanced Micro Devices AMD was in focus this week amid bullish analyst actions, broader AI-spending debate, and sector volatility. On Oct. 5, Stifel maintained a Buy rating and raised its price target to $700. On Oct. 6, Citigroup kept a Buy rating and lifted its target to $800, while Mizuho maintained Outperform and raised its target to $705. AMD also featured in discussions around the durability of heavy AI infrastructure spending, as investors weighed whether long-lived debt is being used to fund rapidly depreciating AI hardware. By Oct. 8-9, sentiment turned more cautious across AI-linked stocks after reports that OpenAI’s annualized revenue was about $20 billion below earlier indications, while ARK Invest was reported to have sold AMD shares alongside other major tech holdings. Most retail investors were bullish on AMD. The stock had a 52-week range of $188.22 to $658.52, trading around $619 to $632 per share, as of the publication of this article. It rose by 163.49% over the year, rose 167.74% over the last six months, and is higher by 189.82% YTD. According to Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings, AMD was maintaining a strong price trend over the short, long, and medium terms, with a poor value score. AST SpaceMobile ASTS was in focus this week on network-testing progress, a major Japan opportunity, and intensifying competition from SpaceX. On Oct. 5, AST SpaceMobile and TELUS completed their first test connecting their wireless networks, advancing direct-to-device satellite connectivity in Canada. On Oct. 6, shares surged as investors focused on a potential $1 billion Japan catalyst. Sentiment reversed on Oct. 7-8 after the FCC approved SpaceX’s next-generation direct-to-device satellite system, increasing competitive pressure and contributing to ASTS weakness. Benzinga also highlighted broader aerospace-sector pressure tied to reports that SpaceX could raise $40 billion in debt for Nvidia-powered data-center expansion. Some retail investors were mocking ASTS’s price performance. The stock has traded in the 52-week range of $49.31 to $133.86, trading around $53 to $57 per share, as of the publication of this article. It fell by 29.89% over the year, 40.98% over the last six months, and is down 21.62% YTD. According to Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings, ASTS was maintaining a weak price trend over the long, short, and medium terms. Retail focus comprised AI infrastructure momentum, earnings, and corporate news-driven narratives, with broader market action during the week.

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Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU) could plunge to $400 in early June 2027 if its current rally repeats a price pattern from the Dot-com bubble.

The target implies a 61.1% decline from Micron’s last closing price of $1,029. 

According to analysis by TradingShot outlined in a TradingView post on October 9, the correction could precede another rally that extends the artificial intelligence (AI) bull cycle toward 2030.

MU stock price analysis. Source: TradingView The analysis compared Micron’s current AI-driven rally with its advance in the 1990s. Both periods feature a long-term trendline of higher highs, followed by an upward breakout and a parabolic rally.

After peaking in September 1995, Micron corrected sharply toward its monthly 50-period moving average (MA), bottoming near the 0.382 Fibonacci retracement level. 

TradingShot suggested a similar pullback could take the stock to $400 before it resumes its upward trajectory.

MU stock momentum  The monthly relative strength index (RSI) also shows similarities between the two cycles. Micron’s RSI recently reached 92.75, compared with 97 at the September 1995 peak, indicating exceptionally strong momentum and potentially overbought conditions.

TradingShot also highlighted the monthly 100-period moving average, which supported Micron through much of its previous decade-long advance. 

However, the historical comparison does not guarantee a repeat, and the projected June 2027 low remains a technical scenario.

Meanwhile, Micron’s fundamentals remain strong. Fiscal Q4 2026 revenue reached a record $54.23 billion, up 31% quarter over quarter and 379% year over year. Non-GAAP earnings per share of $33.42 beat estimates of $31.6, while non-GAAP gross margin reached 87%.

DRAM revenue hit a record $39.8 billion, while NAND generated $14.1 billion. The core Data Center Business Unit brought in $18 billion, up 56% sequentially, driven by AI demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM), DRAM and data center storage. 

For fiscal 2026, revenue surged 256% to $133.19 billion, while non-GAAP net income reached $86.76 billion, or $75.52 per share.

For Q1 fiscal 2027, Micron forecasts revenue of $61.5 billion, plus or minus $1.5 billion, non-GAAP EPS of $38.15, plus or minus $1.00, and a gross margin of approximately 86.25%. 

Micron stock fundamentals  The outlook is supported by tight memory supply and sustained AI demand. More than 75% of fiscal 2027 shipments were already committed, customers were discussing 2028 allocations, and much of next year’s HBM output had been sold at higher prices. 

Additionally, Micron has signed 26 multiyear strategic customer agreements, some extending into 2030–2031, while ramping HBM4 production and expanding manufacturing capacity.

However, the technology company still faces risks, including industry cyclicality, rising capacity, slower AI spending, and customer concentration. 

The company recently settled a patent dispute with Netlist for $600 million, including a five-year license, while a Taiwan workers’ union authorized a strike over bonuses. 

Following its sharp rally, Micron is also vulnerable to profit-taking and valuation concerns.

Featured image via Shutterstock

Key Takeaways Outside of the big banks, other notable companies are soon expected to report, including TSM, UNH, and JNJ. Estimates for Q3 remain positive, with S&P 500 earnings expected to grow 24.3% YoY on 11.5% higher revenues. Q4 estimates are similarly trending higher, reinforcing the strong earnings picture. The Q3 earnings season takes center stage this week when JPMorgan (JPM - Free Report) , Citigroup (C - Free Report) , and others report September-quarter results before the market’s open on Tuesday, October 13th. This week’s reporting docket, comprising 29 S&P 500 members, also includes companies outside the Finance sector, with bellwethers like Johnson & Johnson, Taiwan Semiconductor Company, and UnitedHealth also reporting quarterly results.

The expectation is that S&P 500 earnings will increase by +24.3% from the same period last year, the 8th straight quarter of double-digit earnings growth for the index.

The Tech sector remains a major growth contributor, but momentum is broad-based, with 15 of the 16 Zacks sectors on track for positive earnings growth in Q3. Importantly, the revisions trend remains positive and broad-based, highlighting a steadily improving outlook.

The quarterly chart below details actual results alongside Q3 2026 growth expectations and forward projections.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

As noted earlier, the revisions trend has been positive, sustaining the favorable trend in place for almost a year. Estimates for Q3 increased after the quarter got underway, and we are seeing a similar trend at play for 2026 Q4 estimates, as the chart below shows.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

This positive revision behavior is not new; it extends a tailwind that has been building for nearly a year. The positive revisions were at first concentrated in Technology and, more recently, Energy following Middle East supply disruptions. However, for 2026 Q4 and what we saw in Q3, constructive estimate revisions have broadened significantly, rising across 7 of the 16 Zacks sectors—including Aerospace, Construction, Industrials, Finance, and Transportation alongside Tech and Energy.

On the negative side, Q4 estimates remain under pressure for these 8 sectors – Conglomerates, Autos, Basic Materials, Consumer Staples, Consumer Discretionary, Medical, Business Services, and Retail.

It is important to note that estimates for full-year 2027 have also been similarly trending higher, which we show a little later in this note.

Sector Focus: Broad-Based StrengthQ3 earnings are expected to be above the year-earlier level for 15 of the 16 Zacks sectors, with 6 sectors expected to enjoy double-digit growth. The multi-industry Conglomerates sector is the only one expected to have lower earnings in Q3 relative to the same period last year (earnings decline of –35.1%).

The 6 sectors expected to enjoy double-digit earnings growth in Q3 are Aerospace (up +159.5%), Energy (+117.1%), Tech (+43.3%), Basic Materials (+29.7%), Transportation (+10.9%) and Industrial Products (+13.3%).

Q3 earnings growth for the S&P 500 index drops to +20.1% from +24.3% once the Energy sector’s contribution is excluded from the index. Excluding the Tech sector, Q3 earnings growth for the rest of the index drops to +14.2%.

For the Finance sector, which dominates the reporting docket this week, Q3 earnings are expected to be up +3.3% from the same period last year on +6.3% higher revenues, as the chart below shows.

The chart below shows Q3 earnings and revenue growth expectations for the Finance sector relative to the preceding two periods and what is expected over the following four quarters.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Banks and Brokerages industry, which includes JPMorgan, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and others, is expected to post +2.5% earnings growth in Q3 on +9.7% higher revenues, as the chart below shows.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The sharp rise in long-term Treasury yields during Q3 has been an overhang on bank and broker stocks lately. Rising yields don’t just cause paper losses on balance sheet holdings of available-for-sale bonds, as they also pressure net interest margins through surging deposit betas and have negative effects on credit demand and quality. The unfavorable interest rate backdrop has clouded the outlook for deal flow, with a number of high-profile IPOs getting delayed as a result.

Q3 Earnings Season ScorecardThe Q3 earnings season is not officially getting underway with this week’s results from JPMorgan, Citigroup, and others. Officially, the Q3 reporting cycle began with recent results from Pepsi (PEP - Free Report) , Micron (MU - Free Report) , Nike (NKE - Free Report) , and others.

The Nike, Micron, and other reports were for these companies’ fiscal quarters ending in August, which count as part of the September-quarter tally. Including the Nike and Micron reports, we now have such Q3 results from 19 S&P 500 members. With another 29 index members reporting results this week, including the aforementioned banks, we will have seen results from 48 S&P 500 members by the end of this week.

Total Q3 earnings for the 19 S&P 500 members that have reported results already are up +150.9% from the same period last year on +27% higher revenues, with 78.9% beating EPS estimates and 73.7% beating revenue estimates.

The comparison charts below show the earnings and revenue growth rates for these companies compared to other recent periods.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The very strong earnings and revenue growth pace for this group of 19 S&P 500 members is mostly due to Micron, whose Q3 earnings increased +1075.7% from the year-earlier level. Excluding the Micron contribution, Q3 earnings for the remaining 18 index members that have reported would be up +9.4%.

The chart below shows the Q3 earnings growth pace for the companies that have reported, with and without Micron, across recent periods.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The comparison charts below show the Q3 EPS and revenue beats percentages for these companies compared to other recent periods.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Earnings Big PictureThe chart below shows the aggregate growth picture for the S&P 500 index on a calendar year basis.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

As we noted earlier, estimates for full-year 2027areexperiencing the same positive revisions trend that we noted earlier in the context of 2026 Q4. The chart below shows how aggregate 2027 earnings estimates have evolved since the start of July.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

For a detailed view of the evolving earnings picture, please check out our weekly Earnings Trends report here >>>> Banks Under Pressure from Spiking Yields Ahead of Q3 Results 

watch now

Bears continued to build up positions against the semiconductor group on Friday, as a series of eyebrow-raising trades in Micron and Nvidia dominated the tape and called into question the move in chips.

More than 180,000 puts traded in SMH by midday, compared to 50,000 calls, with $46 million of premium tied to puts versus $26 million in calls, according to ThinkOrSwim and SpotGamma data. By volume, 129,000 put contracts look like they were bought, according to SpotGamma.

The ratio of open interest in put contracts to calls climbed to 1.95, the highest since the second week of August, Barchart data show. The same ratio for the Invesco QQQ Trust continued its recent climb as well, to 1.51.

A few big single-stock trades stood out on the tape as well.

In Nvidia, just after the opening bell, someone bought 100,000 180-strike puts expiring Jan. 15 for $21 million, the biggest trade in the stock's options on the day. If it is a speculative position, it needs Nvidia to fall 22% by expiry.

Arguably, the most interesting trades were in Micron.

MU and NVDA in past 3 months

While call volumes ran 40% higher than average, about $270 million in premium was tied to likely put-buying, according to SpotGamma data. The difference can in part be explained by a string of trades in deep in-the-money put contracts expiring in June 2028.

The bulk of the trades – about 125 puts with strikes from 2,250 to 2,500 – were transacted closer to the ask, suggesting they were bought. By the same logic, 50 trades at the 2,050 strike were likely sold. Micron shares are trading around $1,030.

Taken at face value, it would be a net $14.5 million bearish spread position with an options delta near -1, meaning the trade functions like a synthetic short position. Traders will buy deep-in-the-money puts instead of shorting a stock if the cost of borrowing the stock is too high or if they want to have a defined risk position. In purchasing options, the most you can lose is what you put in.

To be sure, interpreting bid-ask spreads can get murky when analyzing far out-of-the-money trades with low open interest and volume.

"Spreads have difficulty being categorized by midpoint analysis as well, because dealers are willing to take a haircut on one leg while getting a better premium with the other," said Jason DeLorenzo, owner and founder of Volland, an options market-structure analytics platform.

YHB Investment Advisors Inc. lowered its position in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU – Free Report) by 48.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 859 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 811 shares during the period. YHB Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Micron Technology were worth $915,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Denali Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Micron Technology during the 2nd quarter valued at about $7,364,000. Castleark Management LLC bought a new stake in Micron Technology during the first quarter worth about $3,709,000. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS grew its holdings in Micron Technology by 73.3% in the second quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS now owns 3,544 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $4,091,000 after purchasing an additional 1,499 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in Micron Technology by 16.0% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 48,520 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $56,006,000 after purchasing an additional 6,702 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC increased its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 2,461.4% during the second quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 37,141 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $42,871,000 after purchasing an additional 35,691 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.84% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Micron Technology In other Micron Technology news, CEO Sanjay Mehrotra sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $968.90, for a total value of $38,756,000.00. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Scott Allen sold 879 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,000.00, for a total value of $879,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 34,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,958,000. This represents a 2.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 95,879 shares of company stock valued at $90,939,466. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several research firms have recently issued reports on MU. Itau BBA Securities lifted their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $1,243.78 to $1,697.09 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Seaport Research Partners restated a “buy” rating on shares of Micron Technology in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $2,000.00 price objective on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Micron Technology from $1,280.00 to $1,520.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Finally, Argus dropped their target price on Micron Technology from $1,500.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-one have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,407.88. View Our Latest Analysis on Micron Technology

Micron Technology Trading Down 4.8% NASDAQ:MU opened at $1,035.84 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.17 trillion, a PE ratio of 13.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 2.22. The company has a current ratio of 3.31, a quick ratio of 2.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $975.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $840.54. Micron Technology, Inc. has a 12 month low of $179.61 and a 12 month high of $1,255.00.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 30th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $33.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $31.77 by $1.65. The firm had revenue of $54.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $51.33 billion. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 92.62% and a net margin of 63.80%.The company’s revenue was up 379.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.03 EPS. Micron Technology has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 37.150-39.150 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 175.82 earnings per share for the current year.

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

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

Positive Sentiment: Strong earnings and forward guidance support the growth outlook. Micron reported fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $54.23 billion and adjusted earnings of $33.42 per share, both ahead of expectations. Management also projected fiscal first-quarter 2027 adjusted EPS of $37.15-$39.15, implying another sequential increase. Micron’s Latest Earnings Reveal Why the AI Memory Supercycle Could Run for Years Positive Sentiment: AI-related demand remains a major catalyst. More than 75% of Micron’s fiscal 2027 output is reportedly committed, while customers are already discussing 2028 allocations. Record DRAM revenue and surging enterprise SSD demand suggest data-center customers are securing memory supply well in advance. Micron: This Memory Cycle Could End Differently Positive Sentiment: Analyst support remains strong. Zacks upgraded Micron to “Strong Buy,” while D.A. Davidson raised its price target to $3,000 and maintained a Buy rating, citing a potential multiyear shortage driven by AI infrastructure spending. Micron & 2 Profitable Stocks to Buy in October for Big Upside Neutral Sentiment: Valuation and cyclicality remain debated. Bullish analysts view Micron’s roughly six-to-seven-times forward earnings valuation as inexpensive, but skeptics warn that margins may be near a peak and that memory prices could eventually normalize. A $600 million settlement with Netlist also removes a legal overhang but adds a material cost. Micron Technology, Netlist Settle Patent Dispute for $600 Million Negative Sentiment: Investors reacted negatively to weaker-than-expected AI revenue concerns. A report that OpenAI’s annualized revenue was below expectations triggered a broader selloff in AI and semiconductor stocks. Analysts said the figure may reflect reporting differences rather than a deterioration in AI demand, but the news heightened concern about crowded AI valuations. Micron, Nvidia and AI chip stocks fall as report on OpenAI’s revenue causes undue concern Negative Sentiment: A Taiwan labor dispute adds operational risk. Workers at Micron’s major Taiwan manufacturing sites authorized a strike over bonus changes. No walkout has been announced, but a disruption could threaten production and increase costs. Micron’s Taoyuan union in Taiwan secures authorisation to strike Negative Sentiment: Samsung’s record profit did not reassure memory investors. Although Samsung reported sharply higher operating profit, the slower pace of growth and concerns that the memory cycle is nearing a peak reinforced fears that Micron’s exceptional earnings growth may decelerate. The Memory Trade Cools After Samsung’s Preliminary Results Disappoint (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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Every time Micron dips, one investor keeps buying more shares, and the reasoning has nothing to do with short-term momentum. The structural case building behind this memory giant may be one of the quieter conviction plays unfolding in AI right…

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My position in Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU | MU Price Prediction) grew again this week, and I already know I’ll repeat the move. Shares fell 4.79% on Thursday to $1,035.84 after a report on OpenAI’s revenue rattled AI chip stocks. I treated that dip the way I treat every dip in this name: as another entry point.

Here is what keeps pulling me back. Memory used to be a commodity that boomed and busted. AI changed that math. Every model with longer context and more users needs more memory, and Micron makes the HBM, DRAM, and data center SSDs those systems run on. Management says it has “no line of sight to when supply and demand will return to balance.” I want to own the bottleneck.

Three Receipts Behind Every Purchase First, the earnings engine. Fiscal 2026 revenue reached $133.19 billion, up 256.3%, with non-GAAP EPS of $75.52. Fourth-quarter gross margin hit 87.0% versus 45.7% a year earlier, marking the 8th consecutive EPS beat. Guidance for fiscal Q1 2027 calls for $61.5 billion in revenue and EPS of $38.15.

Second, visibility. Micron has signed 26 strategic customer agreements, all with take-or-pay volumes. Remaining performance obligations sit near $150 billion, customer commitments total $32 billion, and more than 75% of 2027 output is already committed. Management expects margins even at floor prices to sit significantly above any prior cycle peak.

The balance sheet stands out too. Micron ended the quarter with $68.3 billion in net cash, earned BBB+ ratings from all three agencies, and produced $33.20 billion in quarterly free cash flow. Starting December 9, 2026, management plans to step up capital returns, aiming over time to return 100% of excess cash, mostly through buybacks. The $0.15 quarterly dividend followed a 30% raise. I own this for compounding and share count reduction, with income as a bonus.

Why My Money Goes Here Instead of NVIDIA The AI name everyone reaches for first is NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA). I pass on it for valuation. NVIDIA trades at 30 times trailing earnings and 25 times forward earnings, with a price-to-sales ratio of 18.93. Micron trades at 14 times trailing, 7 times forward, and 9.23 times sales. I still get NVIDIA’s roadmap through Micron, which is building “the industry’s first custom HBM4E implementation, NVHBM” with it.

Risks That Keep Me Disciplined Memory remains cyclical. Capex ran $30.71 billion in fiscal 2026, and first-half fiscal 2027 spending should reach about $25 billion. HBM4 volume leans on a lead customer, a Taiwan union won approval to strike, and a beta of 2.226 guarantees violent swings. If AI spending slows or rivals add capacity faster than expected, pricing breaks.

I accept that. Floor-priced, take-or-pay contracts and a large cash pile give Micron room to weather a downturn that would have crushed the old Micron.

What Keeps My Buy Button Active Idaho’s ID1 fab should begin wafer output in mid-calendar 2027, HBM4E volume production arrives in calendar 2027, and Level 4 autonomous vehicles need more than 200 gigabytes of memory each. CEO Sanjay Mehrotra put it simply: “As strong as fiscal 2026 was, we expect fiscal 2027 to be even better.” (The signs that show up years before a monster tech run are the ones we cataloged in a free playbook here: The Next Nvidia Playbook.)

While the world keeps running short of memory, I will keep buying the company that makes it.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC raised its position in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU – Free Report) by 834.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,269 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after buying an additional 6,491 shares during the quarter. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC’s holdings in Micron Technology were worth $7,743,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MU. Grove Bank & Trust increased its stake in Micron Technology by 3.8% in the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 7,932 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $8,448,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC bought a new stake in Micron Technology during the third quarter worth $222,000. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 464 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $494,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Hamilton Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 51.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hamilton Capital LLC now owns 1,389 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,479,000 after purchasing an additional 471 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Davis Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 101.6% in the 3rd quarter. Davis Capital Management now owns 123 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $131,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity In related news, EVP Sumit Sadana sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $934.29, for a total value of $14,014,350.00. Following the completion of 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 at the SEC website. Also, CAO Scott Allen sold 879 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,000.00, for a total value of $879,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 34,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,958,000. The trade was a 2.45% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 95,879 shares of company stock worth $90,939,466 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Micron Technology Price Performance Micron Technology stock opened at $1,035.84 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.17 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.96, a PEG ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 2.22. Micron Technology, Inc. has a 52-week low of $179.61 and a 52-week high of $1,255.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.94 and a current ratio of 3.31. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $975.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $840.54. Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, September 30th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $33.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $31.77 by $1.65. The company had revenue of $54.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $51.33 billion. Micron Technology had a net margin of 63.80% and a return on equity of 92.62%. Micron Technology’s quarterly revenue was up 379.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.03 EPS. Micron Technology has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 37.150-39.150 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict 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. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 14th. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio is 0.81%.

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

Positive Sentiment: Strong earnings and forward guidance support the growth outlook. Micron reported fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $54.23 billion and adjusted earnings of $33.42 per share, both ahead of expectations. Management also projected fiscal first-quarter 2027 adjusted EPS of $37.15-$39.15, implying another sequential increase. Micron’s Latest Earnings Reveal Why the AI Memory Supercycle Could Run for Years Positive Sentiment: AI-related demand remains a major catalyst. More than 75% of Micron’s fiscal 2027 output is reportedly committed, while customers are already discussing 2028 allocations. Record DRAM revenue and surging enterprise SSD demand suggest data-center customers are securing memory supply well in advance. Micron: This Memory Cycle Could End Differently Positive Sentiment: Analyst support remains strong. Zacks upgraded Micron to “Strong Buy,” while D.A. Davidson raised its price target to $3,000 and maintained a Buy rating, citing a potential multiyear shortage driven by AI infrastructure spending. Micron & 2 Profitable Stocks to Buy in October for Big Upside Neutral Sentiment: Valuation and cyclicality remain debated. Bullish analysts view Micron’s roughly six-to-seven-times forward earnings valuation as inexpensive, but skeptics warn that margins may be near a peak and that memory prices could eventually normalize. A $600 million settlement with Netlist also removes a legal overhang but adds a material cost. Micron Technology, Netlist Settle Patent Dispute for $600 Million Negative Sentiment: Investors reacted negatively to weaker-than-expected AI revenue concerns. A report that OpenAI’s annualized revenue was below expectations triggered a broader selloff in AI and semiconductor stocks. Analysts said the figure may reflect reporting differences rather than a deterioration in AI demand, but the news heightened concern about crowded AI valuations. Micron, Nvidia and AI chip stocks fall as report on OpenAI’s revenue causes undue concern Negative Sentiment: A Taiwan labor dispute adds operational risk. Workers at Micron’s major Taiwan manufacturing sites authorized a strike over bonus changes. No walkout has been announced, but a disruption could threaten production and increase costs. Micron’s Taoyuan union in Taiwan secures authorisation to strike Negative Sentiment: Samsung’s record profit did not reassure memory investors. Although Samsung reported sharply higher operating profit, the slower pace of growth and concerns that the memory cycle is nearing a peak reinforced fears that Micron’s exceptional earnings growth may decelerate. The Memory Trade Cools After Samsung’s Preliminary Results Disappoint Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades MU has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their price target on Micron Technology from $950.00 to $1,500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Micron Technology from $550.00 to $1,500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $1,175.00 to $2,000.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $615.00 to $1,700.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-one have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,407.88.

Check Out Our Latest Report on MU

Micron Technology Profile (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.

Featured Articles Five stocks we like better than Micron Technology Want Private-Market Access to Kalshi and Polymarket? Try This ETF Levi’s Stock Dip Reveals Value Opportunity Despite Q3 Headwinds PepsiCo Stock Looks Poised to Bottom With High Yield, Deep Value Alphabet’s $1.8 Billion Black Hills Deal Powers AI Data Center Push Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MU? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU – Free Report).

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Despite the recent memory stocks sell-off, Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) stock could reach $3,000 within 24 months if fiscal 2028 earnings climb to $200 per share, according to Nicholas Mugalli, CEO and principal of World Trade Securities. He explained that his valuation case rests on applying a 15-times earnings multiple to that $200 EPS estimate.

Mugalli Lays Out $3,000 Micron Math"It’s pretty simple, frankly," Mugalli told Benzinga during an exclusive interview. He pointed to Micron’s current-quarter guidance for $38.15 in adjusted EPS on roughly 1.15 billion diluted shares. Mugalli said the company’s chief financial officer also described the quarter’s gross margin as the floor for the year.

"That’s over $150 annualized, from the low point of the year," Mugalli said. "I need $200 in FY28 at 15 times earnings." That combination would produce a $3,000 valuation, 189.62% higher from the current level, according to his framework.

The price-to-earnings ratio, or P/E, is calculated by dividing a company’s share price by its earnings per share. Reversing that formula, Mugalli’s $200 EPS estimate multiplied by a 15-times earnings multiple produces a $3,000 share-price target.

Mugalli said World Trade Securities’ research team had modeled gross margins at about 84% for the quarter, which he described as a high-end estimate. "They came in 87% and raised their guide again," he said, adding that the result exceeded even his team’s expectations.

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Memory Bull Sees Earnings Strength ContinuingMugalli also compared Micron’s earnings power with Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA), saying Micron had earned more money than Nvidia when the chipmaker traded at a $1 trillion market capitalization.

"I believe it will be just as strong," he said.

His broader Micron thesis is tied to changes in the memory market. Mugalli said high-bandwidth memory uses roughly three times the wafer capacity per bit of standard DRAM, pulling supply away from the commodity market.

He also argued that contract pricing is playing a larger role than the spot market. Mugalli said more than 75% of Micron’s fiscal 2027 shipments are already under customer allocation or contract, while long-term agreements cover more than 35% of revenue through 2030.

What Could Break The ThesisMugalli said he would reconsider his view if customers begin renegotiating price floors, spot prices remain below contract prices for two consecutive quarters, or capital spending stays above 40% of revenue for a full year.

"If I see two of those three, I’m wrong, and I’ll admit it," he said.

How Has MU Performed in 2026?MU stock was 1.85% higher in premarket on Friday. It has gained 427.04% over the last year, 262.93% year-to-date, and 3.56% over the last month. The stock closed down 4.79% at $1,035.84 on Thursday.

Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that MU maintains a strong price trend in the short, medium, and long terms, with a good growth score.

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

Photo courtesy: Shutterstock

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

Most Americans can name a Coca-Cola before they can name a single Micron product, yet Wall Street just handed the obscure memory chip maker a valuation that leaves seven of the world's most recognized consumer brands in the dust.

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In a typical week, most Americans buy a Coke, a Big Mac or a latte. Few of them could name a single product made by Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU | MU Price Prediction), yet the memory maker closed Oct. 8 with a market cap of about $1.17 trillion.

That is more than the combined $1.104 trillion of Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO), PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP), McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD), Disney (NYSE:DIS), Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX), Nike (NYSE:NKE) and Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG). Investors now pay for exposure to the AI buildout.

The lead is thin. A drop of about 5.5% would erase it if the consumer names stayed flat. One bad trading day could do that.

Micron Earns More Than All Seven Brands Combined Micron earned $84.97 billion in fiscal 2026, about 1.7 times the estimated $49.1 billion the seven consumer companies earned together over the trailing year.

Micron’s latest quarter alone produced $37.70 billion in profit, equal to about 77% of the group’s annual total.

Metric Micron Seven Consumer Companies Market Cap $1.17 trillion $1.104 trillion Revenue $133.2 billion $371.6 billion Annual Profit $84.97 billion about $49.1 billion Margins Explain Why Smaller Sales Earn More The seven brands sell far more than Micron but keep far less of each sale. Micron’s non-GAAP gross margin reached 87.0% in fiscal Q4, up from 45.7% a year earlier, because demand for AI memory such as HBM and DDR5 is growing faster than supply.

Nike trades near a 13-year low, while PepsiCo hit its lowest level since 2020 before bouncing on results that cut its outlook for core EPS growth to 2.5-3.5%.

A Single-Digit Multiple Shows Doubts About How Long This Lasts Micron’s valuation sits at about 6x forward earnings, pricing today’s profits like the peak of a cycle. Customers have signed 26 strategic agreements carrying about $150 billion in remaining performance obligations.

CFO Mark Murphy said, “Even at floor prices, we expect margins meaningfully above any prior cycle peak margins.”

Revenue guidance of $61.5 billion, plus or minus $1.5 billion, for next quarter shows demand is still climbing. Memory is the most cyclical part of the chip industry; high prices bring new supply, and a small number of AI customers account for much of the demand. The same expansion is lifting the power, cooling, and networking vendors we profiled in a free report on seven AI infrastructure stocks that aren’t chipmakers.

The stock fell 4.79% on Oct. 8 in a broad selloff of AI chip stocks and sits about 17.5% below its record intraday high from June 25, 2026.

Should You Buy or Sell MU Stock At about 6 times forward earnings, the price assumes a steep downturn. More than 75% of the company’s calendar 2027 output is already committed to customers, making a downturn before 2028 less likely.

A beta of 2.226 means the stock tends to swing about twice as much as the market. Coca-Cola raised its guidance and grew Zero Sugar volume 16%, though its earnings will grow far more slowly.

I would reconsider if pricing for HBM, the high-bandwidth memory used in AI chips, weakens in 2028 or if customers stop paying cash down payments to lock in supply.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

DA Davidson analyst Gil Luria shocked the market on Wednesday by setting a $3,000 12-month price target for memory maker Micron (MU +0.61%), representing nearly 200% upside from the stock's Tuesday close. The stock has already risen about 1,500% since last April and was up 266% year to date.

Micron is one of the big three memory makers, along with its South Korean counterparts Samsung (SSNLF +0.00%) and SK Hynix (SKHY +1.19%). The company derives about three-quarters of its revenue from DRAM (dynamic random access memory) and a quarter from NAND flash memory. The company has been riding the memory supercycle, seeing a huge surge in revenue and gross margins as a serious shortage has pushed memory prices sharply higher.

Let's look at the cases for and against this AI stock delivering such a huge upside from here.

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The bull case Luria is now the biggest Micron bull on Wall Street, and his investment thesis is quite simple. He thinks this memory cycle is much different than prior cycles, and the current supply-and-demand imbalance will last significantly longer than expected. This, in turn, will lead the market to rerate the stock to a higher multiple.

The analyst called memory "a lever for better AI performance" and believes there has been a big structural shift in the market. He pointed to Micron's long-term supply contract agreements and the strength of the companies making these deals. Meanwhile, he thinks the trend of memory de-specing -- the use of less memory per AI processor -- could actually lead to more AI processor sales and boost overall memory sales.

I think Luria is correct when he says this memory cycle is different from past ones, as the AI infrastructure build-out has created what clearly looks like a structural tailwind. High-bandwidth memory (HBM) has become an essential part of the AI infrastructure story, as graphics processing units (GPUs) and other AI chips need to be packaged with copious amounts of HBM to rapidly feed them data to process -- or else they will spend too much of their time idle. Meanwhile, memory makers'  ability to increase their production capacity is constrained by a host of factors, from a limited ability to secure new EUV (extreme ultraviolet) lithography machines to the time it takes to build new clean rooms. In addition, HBM requires roughly three times the wafer capacity of conventional DRAM, which is straining silicon wafer supply for all types of memory. 

Image source: The Motley Fool

The bear case That said, I think there are some flaws in Luria's argument. First, HBM is not the main direct driver of Micron's huge revenue growth and suddenly robust margins. In fact, the company derives the least amount of its revenue from HBM of any of the big three memory makers. While in Q2, the company had a 24% share of the global DRAM market, it held only an 18% share of the HBM market, compared to 33% for Samsung and 50% for SK Hynix. (Those numbers add to 101% due to rounding.)

As a result, Micron is enjoying more of the piggyback action from the current state of the memory market. With the big three memory makers focusing most of their resources on HBM to keep up with demand, prices for conventional DRAM and NAND have risen at a much quicker pace than HBM prices. This has benefited Micron more than its rivals.

This can be seen in the results of Micron compared to those of HBM leader SK Hynix, which has close ties to Nvidia. Last quarter, Micron's revenue increased nearly fivefold to $55.2 billion, and its gross margin went from 44.7% a year ago to 86.8%. This was largely due to price increases, as its shipments for DRAM rose by just a mid-single-digit percentage sequentially, and NAND shipments grew by 10%. By comparison, SK Hynix saw its revenue climb 257% year over year on sequential shipment growth (high-single-digits for DRAM and mid-teens for NAND), while its gross margin rose from 53% a year ago to 83%.

Why the HBM story is a good one The simple fact is that if you back into the numbers, less than 10% of Micron's revenue is coming from HBM (roughly 20% market share of what is projected to be a $55 billion HBM market this year). It is much more reliant on conventional DRAM and NAND prices remaining high than on HBM demand, and that's why I wouldn't buy the stock now.

There have been a lot of big winners in the artificial intelligence (AI) space this year, with a handful of stocks gaining more than 200% thus far in 2026. However, not all winners are created equal, and I'd hold on to some of these winning stocks while dumping others.

Let's look at three winning AI stocks I'd keep in my portfolio and three I'd sell.

Image source: Getty Images.

1. AMD: Keep Advanced Micro Devices (AMD -3.90%) has had a huge year, but there could be more to come. The company is riding two powerful waves with inference and agentic AI, and its pending acquisition of World Labs will also position it to become a potential leader in physical AI.

The company is placing significant emphasis on inference, and large deals with OpenAI, Meta Platforms, and Anthropic will drive rapid growth in the coming years. Meanwhile, it's also a leader in server central processing units (CPUs), where demand is surging due to the rise of agentic AI.

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2. Marvell Technology: Keep Marvell Technology (MRVL -3.52%) shares have skyrocketed this year, and it too is riding powerful trends in custom AI chips and optical networking. The company has helped Amazon develop its custom AI accelerators and has also helped Microsoft develop its own custom AI chip. It also recently won a large deal with Alphabet for complementary components that attach to its Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) ecosystem.

In addition to its custom chip business, Marvell is also a leader in optical interconnects and is benefiting from the shift in AI data centers away from copper wire to optics. At its analyst day, it forecast that it could generate between $70 billion and $90 billion in revenue in fiscal 2031, blowing away analyst expectations.

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3. Lumentum: Keep Another stock riding the wave in optics is Lumentum (LITE -5.62%). It is one of the few companies that builds high-power indium phosphide (InP) lasers, which are used to convert electricity into light for high-speed data transmission. It is also an important player in the optical circuit switches (OCS) and co-packaged optics (CPO) markets.

Lumentum holds around a 60% market share in the electro-absorption-modulated laser (EML) market, and this is a sticky business. The company has a huge patent portfolio, and once a laser or transceiver component is certified, it's there to stay. Given its market position, the stock has greater long-term upside.

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1. Micron Technology: Dump Micron Technology (MU -4.79%) stock has been on a tear, but I'd be taking profits, despite the stock looking cheap. The company has benefited from the surge in memory prices, but it's not a technological leader in the space, trailing Korean rivals SK Hynix and Samsung in advanced memory.

The memory market is currently being driven by high bandwidth memory (HBM) demand, which is packaged with graphics processing units (GPUs) and other AI chips. However, Micron has benefited from being the least-exposed big DRAM (dynamic random access memory) maker to HBM, as demand for advanced memory has led to larger price increases in conventional memory, as the big three memory makers focus their resources on HBM. When ordinary DRAM and NAND (flash) prices start to drop, Micron's earnings could fall off a cliff.

2. Sandisk: Dump The S&P 500's best-performing stock this year, Sandisk (SNDK -4.90%), has also been riding the memory boom. However, it's arguably even more of a commodity player than Micron, focusing purely on flash memory. This market has fewer barriers to entry, more players, and will likely return to balance faster than the DRAM market, making Sandisk a stock I'd be dumping.

3. Intel: Dump Intel (INTC -5.34%) stock made a tremendous turnaround this year, but it was more about being in the right place at the right time. The server CPU market has taken off with the rise of agentic AI, and hyperscalers are now scrambling for these chips. However, Intel has been losing market share in this space, a trend expected to accelerate in the coming years. Meanwhile, its foundry business continues to lose significant money. Take your profits and run.

Geoffrey Seiler has positions in Advanced Micro Devices, Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta Platforms. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Alphabet, Amazon, Intel, Lumentum, Marvell Technology, Meta Platforms, Micron Technology, and Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Micron stock is recovering from a selloff on Thursday but investors may have to wait for major gains for the the memory-chip company's shares.