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Micron Technology’s (NASDAQ:MU | MU Price Prediction) run this year has been extraordinary. The stock is up 240.65% year to date, riding an unprecedented AI-driven memory cycle that pushed fiscal Q3 revenue to $41.46 billion and set up a jaw-dropping fiscal Q4 guide.

Our 24/7 Wall St. price target for Micron is $964.63, sitting almost exactly at the current quote after a historic run. Our recommendation is hold with a high-confidence read of 90%.

24/7 Wall St. Price Target Summary Metric Value Current Price $971.66 24/7 Wall St. Price Target $964.63 Upside/Downside -0.72% Recommendation HOLD Confidence Level 90% Why We Could Be Wrong Our target sits fractionally below where Micron trades today. The bull case is legitimate. HBM4 is ramping twice as fast as HBM3E, and management has already signed 16 Strategic Customer Agreements representing roughly $100 billion in cumulative minimum revenue commitments. Either could rerate the stock higher. Treat our target as one datapoint among many.

From $285 to $971: The Cycle That Rewrote Micron Micron opened 2026 near $285.23 and touched a 52-week high of $1,254.81 before pulling back. Q3 fiscal 2026 delivered a 345.7% YoY revenue jump and non-GAAP EPS of $25.11 versus a $20.28 consensus. GAAP gross margin hit 84.6%.

Fiscal Q4 is guided to $50 billion in revenue and $31 in non-GAAP EPS. Michael Burry recently built bearish positions against MU as of mid-August 2026, adding a wrinkle to the near-term setup.

The Case for $1,500 and Beyond Bulls have real ammunition. The Strategic Customer Agreements now cover 14 of 16 signed deals with cumulative minimum-price commitments of roughly $100 billion, and $22 billion in customer cash deposits and financial commitments underwrite the take-or-pay structure. Management believes DRAM and NAND supply will stay tight beyond calendar 2027.

Analyst consensus of $1,501.98 implies significant upside, and our bull scenario projects $1,334.11 over the next 12 months. CEO Sanjay Mehrotra called memory “a strategic asset” in the AI era.

What Could Go Wrong Memory is cyclical. Capex is running heavy at approximately $27 billion for full-year fiscal 2026, with fiscal Q4 alone near $10 billion. A $325 million loss on debt prepayment hit Q3, and lead-customer concentration on HBM4 is real.

Reddit sentiment flipped very bearish on August 17, and insiders show net selling across 153 recent transactions. Our bear case lands at $705.83. Bulls counter that the SCA structure protects margins even at floor pricing, which management says stays “significantly above prior peak margins.”

How Micron Compares to Sandisk and Western Digital Sandisk (NASDAQ:SNDK) is the purest NAND flash comparison. Sandisk has posted strong recent NAND-driven growth and issued upbeat forward guidance for its next fiscal quarter. That growth curve is steeper than Micron’s, making MU’s forward multiple of 6x look defensible against peers.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) is the HDD complement in the AI storage stack. WD has reported solid recent HDD revenue growth and issued constructive forward guidance for its next fiscal quarter. WD’s steadier growth profile highlights how much torque Micron has on the DRAM side, supporting the bull case but framing the cyclical risk in MU’s current multiple.

Against this peer set, our $964.63 target looks reasonable rather than aggressive.

The Verdict: Hold With a Watch on Pullbacks My verdict is hold at $964.63 with 90% confidence. The key factor is the widening gap between peak-cycle trailing earnings and normalized forward earnings.

A pullback into the $800s could offer a more attractive risk/reward, particularly if fiscal Q4 lands above the $50 billion guide. The setup weakens if HBM4 shipments show signs of pushing out or if SCA counterparties renegotiate. This has been one of the great runs of the AI cycle, and holders have earned the right to let it work.

Year 24/7 Wall St. Price Target 2026 $964.63 2027 $1,007.79 2028 $1,050.00 2029 $1,075.00 2030 $1,091.06 These projections assume Micron executes on its HBM4 and HBM4E roadmaps and that Strategic Customer Agreements deliver promised revenue durability. Significant upside or downside could come from the timing of the next memory downcycle or an acceleration in agentic AI infrastructure spending.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Micron stock was looking to break back above $1,000 as it got good news about Chinese competition.

Leopold Aschenbrenner's Situational Awareness bet big on SanDisk and Micron before it blew up By You're currently following this author! Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email.

Leopold Aschenbrenner is the founder and chief investor of Situational Awareness. Fortune via Reuters Connect Leopold Aschenbrenner, the Wall Street wunderkind whose hedge fund imploded in late July, placed huge bets on two AI stocks in the lead-up to the disaster.

Aschenbrenner's firm, Situational Awareness, owned a $5.7 billion stake in SanDisk and a $5.6 billion stake in Micron at the end of June, its quarterly portfolio update revealed on Friday.

Its positions in the memory-and-storage chipmakers accounted for 56% of a US stock portfolio worth just over $20 billion, excluding put and call options.

Situational directly owned less than $4 billion of stocks at the end of March, led by a $879 million stake in Bloom Energy. That means the value of its direct holdings soared more than fivefold in the three months ended June 30.

Aschenbrenner and his team more than doubled their direct stake in SanDisk to around 2.5 million shares and boosted their direct position in Micron from about 17,000 shares to 4.8 million shares.

8 Wall Street pros share their tips on investing amid rising AI bubble concerns

They also ramped up Situational's TSMC stake from around 22,000 American Depositary Shares to 2.6 million, and established a $1.2 billion stake in Nebius at the end of June.

Moreover, Situational cut its number of option positions from 16 — including puts on the VanEck Semiconductor ETF, Nvidia, Oracle, Broadcom, AMD, Micron, TSMC, ASML, and Intel — to two small calls and an even smaller put.

It appears Situational took on more risk last quarter, given it sharply concentrated its portfolio on SanDisk and Micron, and cut its number of puts — a popular form of insurance against a stock declining — from 11 to one. Meanwhile, it pared its number of bullish call positions from five to two.

It is worth emphasizing that these portfolio disclosures, known as 13Fs, only provide snapshots of a single day in a three-month period.

They also exclude shares sold short, foreign-listed stocks, non-equity assets, and private investments such as Situational's reported stake in Anthropic, so they don't paint a full picture of an investor's strategy.

Shares of SanDisk and Micron tanked by 47% and 29%, respectively, in July, as investors took profits after a stellar run and fretted about sky-high valuations.

Both stocks have regained some ground since then, as investors wager they'll be major beneficiaries of the AI infrastructure buildout.

Aschenbrenner, a Columbia valedictorian and former OpenAI researcher, shot to fame after he built a $45 billion AI-focused hedge fund in under two years, and reported a 1,000% gain since inception earlier this year.

Situational's fortunes turned in July when a sell-off in AI stocks meant its highly leveraged portfolio sank by 67%, prompting margin calls from lenders and compelling Aschenbrenner to sell most of his publicly traded stocks to billionaire investor Ken Griffin's hedge fund, Citadel.

Aschenbrenner didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

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Theron Mohamed You're currently following this author! Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email.

Theron Mohamed is a London-based correspondent on the International team at Business Insider. His coverage spans finance, investing, wealth, markets, and the economy.Theron joined BI in 2019 as a reporter at Markets Insider and rose to the rank of correspondent before moving to the Trending team then the broader International team. He previously covered tech, media, and telecom stocks for Investors Chronicle magazine and had a brief stint on the Financial Times' Data team. He interned at the Wall Street Journal in New York where he primarily wrote for Heard on the Street.Theron has freelanced for The Independent, The Telegraph, WIRED, and several smaller publications. He holds an undergraduate degree in geography from the London School of Economics, and a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University.Theron often covers Warren Buffett, Michael Burry, and other elite investors. He also writes about the world's wealthiest people and shares financial advice from all manner of rich and successful people.Email Theron at [email protected] and follow him on X @theron_mohamed.

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Although earnings season is typically the highlight of each quarter for investors, the filing of Form 13Fs with regulators can be equally valuable. A 13F details which stocks Wall Street's smartest money managers, such as Duquesne Family Office's billionaire boss, Stanley Druckenmiller, bought and sold in the latest quarter.

Druckenmiller is an active money manager with an attraction to innovation-focused companies. Duquesne's latest 13F, detailing second-quarter trading activity, shows that its billionaire chief dumped shares of Micron Technology (MU +2.30%) and Intel (INTC -1.97%), while absolutely piling into the favorite artificial intelligence (AI) stock of billionaire investors: Amazon (AMZN -0.94%).

Billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller moved into and out of dozens of positions in the second quarter. Image source: Getty Images.

Stanley Druckenmiller sends Micron and Intel packing Druckenmiller was a busy bee in the June-ended quarter, with 23 stocks getting the heave-ho and 10 others reduced. But what really stands out is the 23,400 shares of Micron and 411,400 shares of Intel that were sold.

Profit-taking is the most logical reason that these two high-flying semiconductor stocks were shown the door. Following a short-lived pullback in the broader market in March, shares of Micron more than tripled between the start of April and the end of June. It's a similar story for chipmaker Intel, whose stock catapulted from the mid-$40 range to as high as $141.

Both companies find themselves well-positioned to thrive amid the evolution of AI. Intel's central processing units are essential in AI-accelerated data centers, while demand for Micron's high-bandwidth memory is off the charts.

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Nevertheless, history hasn't been too kind to game-changing technologies. Every major technological innovation since (and including) the advent of the internet has navigated an early stage bubble-bursting event. These bubbles form because investors constantly overestimate the pace of optimization for a new technology. Although AI infrastructure adoption isn't an issue, it'll likely take several years for businesses to optimize their AI solutions.

In a May 2024 interview with CNBC, Druckenmiller stated that "AI might be a little overhyped now, but underhyped long term."

Image source: Amazon.

Duquesne's billionaire chief more than 11X'd his stake in dual-industry leader Amazon On the other hand, Duquesne's billionaire boss opened four dozen new positions in the June-ended quarter and increased his fund's existing stake in 17 others. None of these existing additions was more prominent than that of dual-industry leader Amazon.

Druckenmiller oversaw the purchase of 495,800 shares of Amazon, increasing his fund's stake by 1,083% from the end of March.

While most investors are aware of Amazon's online retail marketplace dominance, they might not realize that it's also No. 1 in global cloud infrastructure services. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is pacing $169 billion in annual run rate revenue and has seen its sales accelerate since integrating generative AI and large language model solutions into its platform. The high margins generated by AWS account for a majority of Amazon's operating income.

Incredible: Amazon's AWS revenue over the last 12 months ($148 billion) was higher than the revenue of 474 companies in the S&P 500. $AMZNhttps://t.co/l5IYmkeySJ pic.twitter.com/lzXvwmY8jJ

-- Charlie Bilello (@charliebilello) July 30, 2026 Amazon is also a consistent top holding among billionaire investors. The latest purchase by Druckenmiller made it a top-10 position at Duquesne Family Office.

With sales growth at AWS reaccelerating, Wall Street estimates that Amazon's cash flow per share will more than double from a reported $12.89 in 2025 to north of $30 in 2028. If Amazon comes anywhere close to this estimate, its shares still represent a bargain.

Micron Technology, Inc (NASDAQ:MU) stock gained over 3% during Monday’s premarket session as risk appetite firms up into the open and traders continue to lean into the stock’s longer-term uptrend. Nasdaq futures are up 0.53% while S&P 500 futures have gained 0.18%.

The stock could deliver stronger earnings and cash flow for longer than the market expects as tighter industry supply and structural changes in the memory business extend the current cycle, according to Trivariate Research founder and CEO Adam Parker.

Parker Sees Micron’s Earnings Staying Stronger for LongerParker told CNBC last Friday that Trivariate ran 10,000 simulations to assess how long Micron’s current earnings cycle could last and how much the company could generate.

He believes consensus estimates assume earnings will fall too quickly after reaching a peak.

Parker estimates Micron trades at roughly 11 to 12 times normalized earnings and about five times peak earnings, a valuation he considers too low.

He also said investors are not fully accounting for Micron’s potential cash generation, estimating that the company could generate close to $300 billion in free cash flow over the next two years.

Based on that outlook, Parker said Micron’s stock will “probably” double over the next couple of years before the cycle ends. Asked whether Micron could eventually reach a $1 trillion market capitalization, he said, “I wouldn’t be shocked.”

Industry Changes Challenge the Old Memory-Cycle PlaybookParker argued that investors should not rely on Micron’s historical boom-and-bust cycles to judge the current opportunity.

He noted that DRAM previously represented about 40% of a server’s cost but now accounts for less than 10%, while the memory industry has also consolidated.

He expects constrained supply to help sustain the cycle and believes Micron could generate more earnings for longer than investors currently anticipate.

Parker Plays Down China Supply RiskParker also downplayed concerns that additional Chinese semiconductor supply could quickly undermine the market. He pointed to the long timelines required to build leading-edge manufacturing capacity, arguing that competitors cannot rapidly add enough production to disrupt supply conditions.

As a result, Parker believes persistent supply constraints and stronger-than-expected earnings could support Micron’s performance over the next few years.

Earnings And Analyst OutlookMicron’s next earnings report is estimated for Sept. 22.

Analysts expect earnings of $31.27 per share, compared with $3.03 per share a year earlier. Revenue is projected at $50.81 billion, up from $11.31 billion.

Micron carries a Buy consensus rating with an average price forecast of $1,537.50.

Recent analyst moves include Citigroup, which maintained a Buy rating on Aug. 7 but lowered its price forecast to $1,150. KeyBanc Capital Markets maintained an Overweight rating and raised its price forecast to $1,750 in July, while Cantor Fitzgerald maintained an Overweight rating and raised its forecast to $2,000 in June.

Top ETF Exposure Invesco PHLX Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SOXQ): 8.91% Weight State Street SPDR NYSE Technology ETF (NYSE:XNTK): 8.14% Weight Invesco AI and Next Gen Software ETF (NYSE:IGPT): 8.71% Weight Significance: Because MU carries such a heavy weight in these funds, any significant inflows or outflows for these ETFs will likely force automatic buying or selling of the stock.

Price ActionMU Stock Price Activity: Micron Technology shares were trading higher by 3.58% at $1006.47 during premarket trading on Monday, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Image via Shutterstock

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

It has been a historic period for memory and storage stocks. Once relegated to a bucket of lowly valued "commodity" stocks, the agentic AI revolution has spurred an absolutely massive increase in memory and storage demand.

Not only has demand increased, but the technology has also evolved from an interchangeable commodity to a strategic enabler for AI systems. The agentic era has therefore spurred massive stock price increases for memory and storage giants Micron (MU +2.30%), SK Hynix (SKHY +0.40%), and Sandisk (SNDK +7.40%).

However, those huge gains gave way to a big pullback in July because of profit-taking, fears of more efficient models from China, short-seller skepticism, and the "blow-up" of the AI-focused hedge fund Situational Awareness. Even after a bounce back in August, these stocks remain 15% to 30% below their June highs.

Is the recent pullback a harbinger of more pain and a "bubble bursting," or an opportunity to buy the dip? Last week, Elon Musk wrote a three-word sentence on his social media that strongly points to the latter.

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"Few realize this" Last week on X, a private technology executive noted, "Memory, not compute, is the rate limiter of the Agentic Era," to which Elon Musk replied, "Few realize this."

Memory, not compute, is the rate limiter of the Agentic Era.

-- Peter H. Diamandis, MD (@PeterDiamandis) August 14, 2026 Few realize this

-- Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 14, 2026 In the first wave of generative artificial intelligence, the environment was dominated by simple questions or prompts directed at the AI system, which would then find the answer. That relatively simple AI application places a lot of onus on the GPU and its massively parallel-processing capabilities.

However, in the agentic AI era, in which AI is tasked with planning and executing tasks independently, the game has changed. Now the focus has pivoted to planning, thinking, data retrieval, testing, and retesting agentic outputs. That has exponentially expanded CPU-heavy "planning" tasks.

Not only that, but each "task" also requires vast amounts of storage and memory. In a recent blog post from Micron, the company wrote that every single agent instance requires:

State and KV/context staging -- keeping track of where it is in its reasoning loop. Tool outputs and queues -- buffering results from API calls and code execution. Container/sandbox memory -- isolated runtime environments for safe execution. Vector/index data -- for retrieval-augmented generation and semantic search. OS and runtime overhead -- the base cost of keeping thousands of environments alive. Each one of these requirements entails memory to support it. Micron also notes that much of the memory for these workloads isn't traditional "commodity" DRAM, but specialized, high-capacity, high-bandwidth DRAM.

These smarter memory architectures require more capital equipment to produce; for instance, memory makers have noted that high-bandwidth memory requires at least three times as much capital equipment per bit to produce as traditional server DRAM.

That means the supply of advanced memory required for agentic AI is becoming harder to meet, just as demand is exploding, which is why DRAM prices have boomed.

Not to be outdone, NAND flash, which stores information even when a system is turned off, though it is slower than DRAM, is also growing fast. That's because massive KV-cache memory chains for long-context agents -- basically, the prior context AI agents must "remember" to produce more tokens -- require a lot of data to be offloaded to NAND-based SSDs. Both Micron and SK Hynix produce NAND along with DRAM, while Sandisk is a NAND "pure play."

Image source: The White House.

Inference has catapulted memory to the forefront Training even the best frontier models requires a lot of memory, but that amount is ultimately capped at the amount needed to fill a GPU. In other words, GPUs can only read so much memory at once, so training a model requires a lot of GPUs, along with a requisite amount of memory.

However, as we enter an era in which more and more consumers and enterprises use agentic AI as a daily habit, the demand for memory appears almost endless. If an AI agent operates over a long period of time, it will have to constantly read and write the KV cache ad infinitum.

That's why researchers at Goldman Sachs just released awe-inspiring estimates of future AI token usage. By 2030, the investment bank estimates that agentic AI will consume roughly 120 quadrillion tokens per month: 24 times the token usage of early 2026.

Thus, it's no wonder that Elon Musk highlights memory as the biggest silicon-based constraint for AI moving forward. Even as more supply comes online in 2028, it appears the demand will be there to absorb it. Thus, the current memory up-cycle may last longer than many investors realize.

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On SpaceX (NASDAQ:SPCX | SPCX Price Prediction)’s Q2 2026 earnings call held Aug. 4, 2026, Elon Musk answered a question about the pace of compute buildout with five words that memory investors have circulated ever since: “Limiting factor currently is memory.”

The remark lands directly on Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU), the only U.S.-based maker of high-bandwidth memory and one of just three global HBM suppliers. SpaceX itself trades publicly as NASDAQ:SPCX after its 2026 IPO. Musk just told public shareholders that memory caps his AI ambitions, above both power and GPUs.

What Musk Actually Said Musk framed the constraint in his own supply-versus-demand math. “The memory output is increasing by around 20% per year. Now, normally that would be fantastically fast and amazing for any large, mature industry. But ask yourself, is the demand increasing by 20% a year? No, the demand is increasing by 200% a year, maybe higher. So if you’ve got demand increasing much faster than supply, then Economics 101 would suggest that the price increases. It does not decrease.” Those 20% and 200% figures are his characterization on the call, not independently verified industry data.

He Ruled Out Power on the Same Call What gives the memory line weight is what Musk dismissed alongside it. He said SpaceX’s “tentative target is to actually have 20 gigawatts at the power and cooling level online by the end of next year,” while conceding “I don’t think we’re going to achieve 20 gigawatts” and expecting “something close to 15 gigawatts.” He stated the design philosophy plainly: “our goal is to have far more power, cooling, and electrical equipment than we have GPUs. That’s the logical thing to do given the relative expense of GPUs versus balance of system.” On GPU access from NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA), he added, “Our understanding within NVIDIA is that we will receive a very small percentage of their GPUs next year.” Power was named excess. Memory was named the bottleneck.

The Tesla Echo, Two Weeks Earlier On Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Q2 2026 earnings on roughly July 23, 2026, Musk thanked Micron by name twice for giving Tesla a “significant” memory allocation “on reasonable terms,” and called current memory pricing “the biggest price jump in anything I’ve ever seen.” Micron shares rose 3.1% intraday that day while Tesla stock fell 14.3% on an earnings miss. Same concern, different call.

The Supply and Demand Case Reporting around the calls has framed the imbalance in stark numbers. Nearly 100 gigawatts of new AI data center capacity are expected globally within four years, against only about 15 gigawatts of new DRAM supply capacity over the next two years. DRAM contract prices have been projected to rise another 90% to 95% in early 2026 on top of already-steep increases. All three HBM producers, Micron, Samsung, and SK Hynix, are reportedly sold out of 2026 HBM capacity, with meaningful new supply not expected until 2028 or later. HBM content per GPU has grown roughly 3.6 times from NVIDIA’s H100 generation to Blackwell Ultra, and frontier AI model context windows have expanded roughly 230 times in three years. Conventional DRAM contract prices reportedly surged around 171.8% year over year in Q3 2025.

What It Means for Micron Micron closed at $971.66 on Aug. 14, up 240.65% year to date from $285.23 at the end of 2025, up 676.79% over one year from $125.09 on Aug. 14, 2025, up 10.72% over the past week from $877.57 on Aug. 7, up 7.45% over the past month from $904.28 on July 15, and up 2.30% on Aug. 14 alone from $949.83. The stock trades around 6 times forward earnings. CEO Sanjay Mehrotra told investors Micron expects tight conditions to persist beyond calendar 2027, backed by Strategic Customer Agreements disclosed in its Q3 FY26 8-K.

The Other Side The bear case deserves weight. A Motley Fool analysis published Aug. 9, 2026 cited TrendForce forecasts for Q3 2026 contract price increases of just 13% to 18% for DRAM and 10% to 15% for NAND, a sharp deceleration from the prior quarter’s gains of more than 60% and more than 80% sequentially. Wall Street’s fiscal 2027 EPS estimates for Micron have reportedly plateaued, rising just 1.2% over the latest month after a much larger jump three months earlier, suggesting earnings-upside momentum may be cooling. The underlying warning is that memory is historically a cyclical, boom-and-bust business, and today’s low-looking valuation multiples could prove misleading if price growth decelerates and margins compress.

Structural Shift or Peak Cycle Musk’s five words describe a moment in which the richest customer of AI compute has publicly identified memory as the ceiling on his plans. Whether that reflects a durable rewrite of memory economics or a peak-cycle snapshot in an industry that has seen every prior boom end will show up in DRAM contract prices, HBM allocation contracts, and whether Micron’s $100 billion cumulative revenue at floor price across signed SCAs holds through 2028. For now, the SpaceX CEO has told the market where the bottleneck sits.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Intel is reconsidering a business it spent decades leaving as artificial intelligence transforms memory from a commodity into a crucial computing bottleneck.

CEO Lip-Bu Tan said on the TechSurge: Deep Tech podcast that Intel is exploring new memory architectures, including ways to bring memory and processors closer together.

Tan said he once viewed memory as a commodity business not worth investing in but believes the economics have changed.

Intel has not announced a new DRAM, NAND or HBM product. The comments matter for Micron stock investors because they arrive during shortages, rising prices and AI-driven demand.

Tan’s interest comes as memory profitability looks unusually strong.

KeyBanc analyst John Vinh said “memory shortages remain persistent,” after supply-chain checks in Asia.

The firm expects tight conditions through 2027, with DRAM prices rising another 15%-20% sequentially in the third quarter and 15% in the fourth. NAND prices could jump 30%-40% in the third quarter before another 15% increase.

That helps explain why Intel is looking again.

AI systems increasingly depend on moving huge quantities of data quickly between processors and memory.

That has made bandwidth, packaging and memory capacity strategic constraints for AI systems.

Intel also hired former SK Hynix chief executive Seok-Hee Lee in June to lead advanced packaging and system integration at Intel Foundry.

Lee will help tightly couple logic, memory, networking and other components in next-generation systems, the company said.

His appointment is not evidence of a new memory division, but it strengthens Intel’s expertise where compute and memory are converging.

For Micron, the immediate competitive threat still looks limited.

Oppenheimer analysts, cited by Barron’s, said a serious Intel return to memory would require fresh capital, significant research and development and, crucially, time. That makes a major near-term challenge unlikely.

Meanwhile, Micron is benefiting from tightening high-bandwidth memory supply. UBS analyst Timothy Arcuri said HBM4 and HBM4E pricing was “even stronger than our prior expectations.” UBS expects HBM average selling prices to rise about 79% year on year.

Micron is also trying to make the current boom more durable. The company says multiyear strategic customer agreements should improve the predictability of its financial performance.

Its June agreement with Anthropic spans memory and storage architecture design, supply and AI infrastructure development.

Mizuho analyst Vijay Rakesh remains bullish too. Barron’s reported that Rakesh expects DRAM and NAND markets to stay tight through 2027 and believes Micron could sustain gross margins above 80%.

Intel can decide it wants exposure to memory, but recreating Micron’s manufacturing scale, HBM expertise and customer relationships is another matter.

That does not make Intel’s interest irrelevant.

High memory prices are attracting capital across the industry. Chinese producers are also expanding.

YMTC overtook Micron in NAND shipment volume during the second quarter, although Micron remained ahead by revenue because its product mix carries greater value.

Intel potentially represents a different competitive risk. Tan appears interested in architectures that integrate processing and memory more closely rather than simply returning to commodity NAND.

Clark Financial Services Group Inc. BD grew its stake in shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU – Free Report) by 13.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,819 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after buying an additional 689 shares during the period. Micron Technology accounts for 3.2% of Clark Financial Services Group Inc. BD’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Clark Financial Services Group Inc. BD’s holdings in Micron Technology were worth $6,717,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Micron Technology in the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,433,456,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 411.9% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,627,022 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $606,873,000 after purchasing an additional 2,918,535 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Micron Technology by 1,340.6% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,820,986 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $805,148,000 after purchasing an additional 2,625,169 shares during the period. Amundi raised its position in shares of Micron Technology by 65.0% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 4,989,400 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,424,025,000 after purchasing an additional 1,965,319 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 106,608,094 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $30,427,016,000 after buying an additional 1,954,644 shares in the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Friday, July 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Micron Technology from $1,200.00 to $1,500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Wolfe Research set a $1,500.00 price target on Micron Technology in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on Micron Technology from $1,200.00 to $1,500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,259.97.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on MU

Insider Transactions at Micron Technology In related news, CAO Scott R. Allen sold 879 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 34,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,958,000. The trade was a 2.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lynn A. Dugle sold 1,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,150.43, for a total value of $1,495,559.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 17,728 shares in the company, valued at $20,394,823.04. This represents a 6.83% 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 162,179 shares of company stock worth $167,811,861. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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

Positive Sentiment: New Street upgraded Micron to “Buy” from “Neutral” and set a $1,250 price target, citing the possibility that AI is making memory demand less cyclical. The firm projects a potential $2 trillion-$3 trillion valuation for Micron by the end of the decade. Micron Upgraded to Buy on the Claim Memory Stopped Being Cyclical Positive Sentiment: DRAM and NAND prices are tightening again, potentially increasing the earnings impact of Micron’s rapidly expanding data-center business. Analysts are continuing to raise revenue estimates and price targets as AI infrastructure spending supports demand for high-bandwidth memory and storage. Micron Stock Jumps as Memory Pricing Tightens Again Positive Sentiment: Micron launched a $250 million Micron Ventures Paradigm Fund to invest across the AI technology stack, including model development, computing infrastructure, enterprise applications and physical AI. The initiative could strengthen partnerships and give Micron earlier insight into future memory and storage requirements. Micron Ventures Launches $250 Million Fund Neutral Sentiment: Broader semiconductor strength, record U.S. equity benchmarks and easing rate-hike expectations are supporting risk appetite for memory stocks. Technical analysts also identify approximately $1,012 as an important near-term resistance level. Micron Price Forecast Negative Sentiment: Risks remain from rising Chinese competition and execution timing. YMTC has surpassed Micron in NAND shipments, while Micron’s new $9.3 billion fabrication plant is not expected to produce chips until 2028. Michael Burry has also increased bearish positions involving Micron, underscoring concerns about valuation, supply growth and a possible return of memory-cycle volatility. Micron Technology Price Performance Shares of NASDAQ:MU opened at $971.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 3.42. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $965.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $677.08. Micron Technology, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $113.46 and a fifty-two week high of $1,255.00. The firm has a market cap of $1.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.00 and a beta of 2.18.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, June 24th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $25.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $21.39 by $3.72. The company had revenue of $41.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.91 billion. Micron Technology had a net margin of 55.91% and a return on equity of 71.13%. Micron Technology’s quarterly revenue was up 345.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.91 earnings per share. Micron Technology has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 30.000-32.000 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 72.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 6th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 6th. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio is 1.36%.

Micron Technology Company Profile (Free Report)

Micron Technology, Inc is a global semiconductor company that designs and manufactures memory and storage solutions. Its product portfolio includes dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), NAND flash memory, solid-state drives (SSDs), memory modules and embedded memory solutions for a wide range of computing and electronic devices. Micron supplies components used in data centers, enterprise and cloud infrastructure, client computing, mobile devices, automotive systems and industrial applications, and also markets consumer-facing products under the Crucial brand.

Founded in 1978 and headquartered in Boise, Idaho, Micron has grown into an international manufacturer with research, development and production facilities across multiple regions.

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Hartford Investment Management Co. cut its stake in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) by 2.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 62,340 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after selling 1,797 shares during the period. Micron

Almost everywhere you look in the stock market, you can see signs of a bubble if you squint.

Valuations are unusually high. In fact, the CAPE ratio, which uses the last ten years of earnings, is nearly as high as it was when the dot-com bubble burst, which is its highest point ever.

S&P 500 Shiller CAPE Ratio data by YCharts

Stock market bears are howling over what they claim is circular financing in the AI industry, or the way companies like Nvidia make investments in OpenAI and Anthropic, the AI frontier lab leaders, who then use that to contract out compute capacity from hyperscalers buying Nvidia chips. This arrangement, they claim, is a house of cards that will fall apart once AI demand slows.

Others point to the cyclical nature of the semiconductor industry, arguing that chip prices will eventually come down, especially in categories like memory, which will lead to a rude awakening for investors.

However, we now have some of the best evidence yet that the gains in the stock market are warranted, and that the AI boom is generating real, rather than paper, wealth.

According to Factset, the S&P 500 (^GSPC -0.17%) is expected to grow earnings per share by 50.4% this quarter, which is its fastest pace since Q2 2021, when it jumped 91.6% in the rebound from the start of the pandemic.

Clearly, this isn't the first time the S&P 500 has grown earnings by 50%, but it is the first time this century it's done so when it's not rebounding from a previous drop in earnings, and that's an important distinction.

The previous times this century that S&P 500 earnings jumped 50% or more were in 2021 during the pandemic, 2009-10 during the financial crisis, and in 2003 in the rebound from the dot-com bust.

In each of those cases, index earnings had fallen sharply due to the crisis at the time. That's not the case right now. In fact, S&P 500 earnings were already at a record level before this year, as 2026 represents the fourth year of the AI boom.

Image source: Getty Images.

What history says about soaring S&P 500 earnings
S&P 500 earnings are skyrocketing in the current environment because of the AI infrastructure build-out. Profits at chip companies have catapulted higher since the launch of ChatGPT. Memory-chip maker Micron, (MU +2.30%) for example, reported net income up more than 10x in its fiscal third quarter, which ended in May, and counts toward the S&P 500's Q2 cycle, reaching $28.2 billion in generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) net income, up from $1.89 billion in the quarter the year before.

That surge alone accounts for roughly 4% of the S&P 500's growth in Q2, and the boom extends well beyond Micron. Non-cash equity gains that have accrued to companies like Amazon and Alphabet due to the surge in Anthropic's valuation, for example, also account for a significant percentage of S&P 500 earnings gains this quarter.

There's no perfect comparison in history, but the period of time that seems to be the best analog for the current tech-driven infrastructure is the beginning of the dot-com boom in 1994.

In that year, internet infrastructure demand was starting to ramp higher, and demand for products from companies like Cisco, Intel, MCI Worldcom, and Micron began to take off. That year, S&P 500 earnings per share jumped 40%, helped by a broader rebound in cyclical and industrial stocks, as the tech sector was much smaller then.

Stocks were flat that year due to interest rate hikes, so it's not remembered as the start of the dot-com boom, but it did lay the groundwork for the surge in stocks the following year.

What it means for the current stock market
The 1994 earnings surge how early in the AI boom we may still be. The data-center capacity and broader infrastructure build-out are just ramping up, as they did in 1994, and the productivity gains from AI are only starting to accrue. Start-up formation is beginning to surge, like it did in the dot-com era, though we have yet to see that impact the stock market significantly.

There are important differences between now and 1994. Stocks have already jumped from the AI boom, so at least some of the 50% earnings surge this quarter is priced in.

However, the earnings boom also seems to justify the high valuations in the market as the S&P 500 now has a forward P/E of just 20, putting the earlier-mentioned concerns about the CAPE ratio in perspective.

That looks like a fair price to pay for the index's potential growth. If the 1994 analogy holds up, investors could be in store for more years of surging profits and the stock market gains to go with it.

Billionaire investor Ray Dalio's hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, has disclosed its latest stock holdings, revealing a portfolio valued at approximately $24.4 billion as of June 30, 2026.

Micron Technology is at a tactical short-term buy point, with bullish technical signals and supportive fundamentals. DRAM and NAND markets remain tight, with AI/HBM demand absorbing capacity, supporting high prices and margins for MU. I maintain a Hold rating for long-term investors, citing valuation risks if memory supply expands and margins compress.

For companies valued at $1 trillion or more, few can match the growth Micron Technology (MU +2.30%) and Space Exploration Technologies (SPCX -0.91%) (better known as SpaceX) are delivering. In each of their past quarters, Micron delivered an incredible 346% growth, while SpaceX posted 92%. That makes them the fastest-growing trillion-dollar companies.

But which one is the better buy right now? Let's take a look at each stock and see which makes the most sense for your investment dollars.

Image source: Getty Images.

Micron operates a cyclical business
Micron and SpaceX aren't competitors. They are two entirely different companies that may happen to use each other's products but have no relationship beyond that.

Micron makes memory chips, which are in short supply due to the AI build-out, which is taking up nearly all available production capacity. This situation won't last forever, and when demand decreases, it could hurt memory chip pricing and cause Micron stock to be a bust. However, there are few signs of that happening right now, and with more production capacity not arriving until later next year, there is plenty of time for Micron to ride this demand wave.

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SpaceX's business is more complex, as it owns a space payload delivery business, an internet provider (Starlink), a social media company (X), and an AI platform (xAI). While that is a wide-ranging business conglomerate, each of them fits into what SpaceX is trying to do, and all of them have long-term viability without any cyclical concerns.

As a result, I'm giving SpaceX the business edge here.

Winner: SpaceX

Micron is growing far faster
As mentioned, Micron's growth rate is incredible at 346% year over year. Due to rising prices for its products and higher input costs, Micron's profits are also soaring.

MU Revenue (Quarterly YoY Growth) data by YCharts

SpaceX has no profits to speak of, and while the 92% growth rate is impressive, it just doesn't compare to the results Micron is delivering.

Winner: Micron

Valuing each stock is not easy
With the score being tied up entering this last category, it all comes down to valuation. However, valuing these two stocks isn't easy. Because Micron is a cyclical business, its valuation metrics are often skewed as the market may anticipate a downturn, making its stock appear cheap. But in reality, it will be expensive within a year or two.

SpaceX is difficult to value because it has no profits to speak of, leaving investors to value the stock based on sales, which can be challenging because there's no reference as to what SpaceX's long-term profit margin will be. There isn't a direct comparison because SpaceX is a unique company, unlike Micron, which has several memory peers to compare against. To make matters more difficult, SpaceX doesn't have a year's worth of results available, so the price-to-sales ratio is more of a guess.

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For 2026, Wall Street analysts estimate SpaceX will deliver $44.6 billion in sales, pricing the stock at 43 times 2026 sales estimates. That's very expensive, and even if SpaceX could deliver a 50% profit margin, that would price the stock at 86 times forward earnings.

Meanwhile, Micron's stock trades at just 12.4 times forward earnings for the fiscal year (FY) ending in August 2026 and 5.9 times FY 2027 earnings.

MU PE Ratio (Forward) data by YCharts

However, Micron has informed investors it expects the memory chip shortage to last beyond 2027, so these pessimistic views about falling memory chip market prices may be overstated.

With Micron trading at a reasonable valuation and expected to have a few good years of growth left, I'm going to give this category and the overall win to Micron.

Before 2026 is over, I think a handful of artificial intelligence (AI)-related stocks will have a very strong finish to the year. On my short list of AI stocks that can rise 30% or more to finish 2026 are Nvidia (NVDA -0.06%), Micron Technology (MU +2.30%), and Sandisk (SNDK +7.40%). These three stocks are also among my top picks for 2027, but I think they will get a head start and rally to close out the year.

If you've missed out on this exciting trio, it's not too late, and investors should consider scooping them up now to take full advantage of their relatively cheap valuations.

Image source: Getty Images.

Nvidia's valuation is cheap compared to its recent history Although some investors are concerned about rising competitors, Nvidia is still the king of AI investing. It sells far more computing units than its competitors combined, and it's still the industry-standard computing unit that AI firms use widely. It's also launching its latest chip architecture generation, Vera Rubin, at the end of the year, and the results from these computing units will likely prove that Nvidia still deserves its ranking as the top hardware producer.

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However, the market doesn't seem to share that sentiment at the moment. While several of Nvidia's peers trade in the mid-30s or higher for a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio, Nvidia is valued far cheaper at 25 times forward earnings.

Data by YCharts.

Historically, Nvidia has traded at over 35 times forward earnings in the second half of the year, but that hasn't happened this year despite most investors projecting that Nvidia will have a strong 2027. Wall Street analysts project 43% revenue growth next year, and earnings per share to rise from $9.00 to $12.89.

That leaves plenty of room for the stock to rally, and I wouldn't be surprised to see it rally 30% or more to close out 2026.

Sandisk and Micron both benefit from supply shortages Sandisk and Micron are in the same boat, as they're both memory chip producers. Demand for memory chips has exploded thanks to the AI build-out, and memory chip production capacity is widely recognized as the current bottleneck.

Due to a shortage of supply, memory chip prices have increased dramatically. Sandisk noted in its latest quarterly results that two-thirds of its incredible 372% year-over-year growth came from price increases, while the other third came from rising output.

Each of these stocks was a fantastic performer in the first half of 2026, and then investors took profits. However, the market has seen these two rally in recent weeks.

Data by YCharts.

I think this is the beginning of something new, as all signs point to incredible demand for at least the next year and a half. Micron has told investors that the "tightness" in the memory chip marketplace won't subside until at least 2028, when more production capacity is online. That leaves plenty of time for these stocks to rally to new all-time highs, especially after 2027 capital expenditure projections get released.

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Nvidia has already informed its investors that they expect over $1 trillion in data center capital expenditures in 2027, up from the projected $650 billion in 2026. That's a big jump and will benefit all three companies on this list. Investors have already seen some AI hyperscalers increase capital expenditure guidance due to rising memory chip prices, and it's unlikely that those conditions will change anytime soon.

As a result, I wouldn't be surprised to see these two rally to end the year and potentially reach new all-time highs. That would easily surpass the 30% gain prediction, making these two great buys right now.

Micron's (MU +2.30%) 52-week high is around $1,250, but recently it was priced at less than $920 per share. However, if you take a look at where Wall Street thinks it's going, the average one-year price target on the stock is about $1,500. That's substantial upside from here, and makes Micron an easy buy if they're right.

But are they? Let's take a look.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

Pricing Micron's stock isn't easy Micron is growing at an unreal pace. During the last quarter, revenue and profits skyrocketed.

MU Revenue (Quarterly YoY Growth) data by YCharts

That trend is expected to continue, with next quarter's revenue growth projected to be about 349%. All of this is occurring because of heightened demand for memory chips, which Micron manufactures.

The AI data center build-out trend has consumed nearly all production capacity for memory chips. There is still more demand than what's available, so prices are rising as a result. This one-two punch is helping boost Micron's results, but the question is, how long will it last? If you knew the answer to that, you'd be a very rich investor because you'd be able to time Micron's movements up and down perfectly.

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Micron is known as a cyclical business because demand for its products goes up and down. These cycles last for different time periods, but it's pretty well agreed that this cycle is probably the longest and biggest that Micron has experienced. In fact, Wall Street analysts expect Micron's revenue growth for fiscal year 2027 (ending August 2027) to be 85%. That showcases there's still plenty of growth left in Micron's tank, yet the stock is priced at a fairly low valuation.

Micron trades for 12.4 times this year's earnings and 5.9 times FY 2027's earnings.

MU PE Ratio (Forward) data by YCharts

For reference, the minimum trailing price-to-earnings ratio over the past decade was 21.8, but its lowest point was 2.4. Those are some wide-ranging results, and if you're caught on the wrong side of things, Micron could turn out as a bust.

However, I think it's a safe investment throughout 2027, as there are still significant supply constraints hurting the industry. With more capacity coming online next year, it may help stabilize prices, but there's still no guarantee that Micron will have enough capacity to meet demand. As a result, I think Micron's stock is a solid buy, but investors need to keep a watchful eye on industry conditions.

Key Takeaways WMT shares have lost momentum in 2026, with the company set to report results on August 20th. Other notable retailers, including TGT and HD, are also scheduled to report Q2 results soon. The overall Q2 earnings cycle is winding down, with more than 450 S&P 500 members already reporting. Walmart (WMT - Free Report) shares have struggled lately after consistently outshining others over the last few years. The stock outperformed peers like Target (TGT - Free Report) , Home Depot (HD - Free Report) , and even Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) over the last five years, up more than +130% vs. +60.8% for Amazon, +2.1% for Home Depot, and -40.9% for Target. Walmart’s +130% gain over the last five years compares to a +77.7% gain for the S&P 500 index.

Walmart shares seem to have lost momentum this year even though the company continues to perform exceptionally well, as the year-to-date performance chart below for Walmart, Target, Amazon, Home Depot, and the S&P 500 index shows.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Walmart shares were down following the last quarterly release on May 21st, even though it comfortably beat consensus EPS, revenues, and same-store sales estimates. The stock has failed to recoup those losses since then and remains -11.6% below its May 20th level.

It will be interesting to see whether the Thursday, August 20th quarterly release helps shift sentiment toward this retail leader, but the revisions trend has been modestly negative heading into this release. We will have seen results from Target and Home Depot ahead of Walmart’s release, with Home Depot reporting Tuesday morning and Target the day after (Wednesday, August 19th).

Walmart and other big-box retailers are undoubtedly facing a difficult operating environment, with elevated fuel costs not only adding to consumers’ financial burdens but also increasing retailers’ expenses. These macro overhangs prompted management to reiterate prior guidance in the May quarterly release, a move that became a key source of market concern. These headwinds likely played a role in Friday’s soft July Retail Sales reading.

It is important to keep in mind that Walmart shares command a premium valuation, trading currently at 37.6X forward 12-month EPS estimates, only modestly below the 10-year high valuation multiple of 45.4X in February 2026. This represents a significant expansion in the valuation premium relative to Target, as the chart below of the two stocks’ 10-year valuation history shows.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

It is reasonable to chalk up Walmart’s recent underperformance to its premium valuation, particularly in light of management’s conservative, if not altogether underwhelming, guidance back in May. Market participants expect stocks commanding premium valuation multiples to beat-and-raise when they report results.

Notwithstanding the negative effects of elevated fuel costs on consumer spending as well as the company’s freight costs, Walmart remains better positioned than many others in the space given its value orientation, greater indexing to groceries, and robust digital capabilities. Walmart has been consistently gaining market share among higher-income households in recent years, which has more than offset affordability-based demand softness from its lower-income consumers.

Walmart is expected to report $0.73 in EPS on $186.3 billion in revenues, representing year-over-year changes of +7.4% and +5.03%, respectively. Estimates have been under pressure, with the current 73-cent estimate down from 74 cents a month ago and 75 cents three months ago.

In terms of same-store sales, the expectation is for U.S. comps (ex fuel) of +3.57%, which will compare to a +4.1% gain in the preceding quarter (vs. expectations of +4.03%) and a +4.6% gain in the year-earlier period (vs. expectations of +3.98%).

The expectation for Target on the comps front is +2.29% growth, following the +5.6% gain in the preceding period (vs. expectations of 1.34%). Target’s impressive comp showing in the May 20th release followed four back-to-back quarters of negative comps.

A positive general merchandise read will also have positive read-throughs for Target.

With respect to the Retail sector 2026 Q2 earnings season scorecard, we now have results from 18 of the 31 retailers in the S&P 500 index. Regular readers know that Zacks has a dedicated stand-alone economic sector for the retail space, which is unlike the placement of the space in the Consumer Staples and Consumer Discretionary sectors in the Standard & Poor’s standard industry classification.

The Zacks Retail sector includes not only Walmart, Target, and other traditional retailers, but also online vendors like Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) and restaurant players. The 18 Zacks Retail companies in the S&P 500 index that have already reported Q2 results are mostly in the ecommerce and restaurant industries, though we have several restaurant companies on deck to report this week as well.

Total Q2 earnings for these 18 retailers that have reported are up +12% from the same period last year on +15.4% higher revenues, with 77.8% beating EPS estimates and 55.6% beating revenue estimates.

The comparison charts below put the Q2 beats percentages for these retailers in a historical context.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

As you can see above, the revenue beats percentages for these online players and restaurant operators are tracking significantly below the historical averages for this group of companies, but EPS beats are far more numerous.

With respect to earnings and revenue growth rates at this stage, we like to show the group’s performance with and without Amazon, whose results are among those of the 18 companies that have already reported. As we know, Amazon’s Q2 earnings were up +12.6% on +19.6% higher revenues, as it beat both EPS and top- line expectations. 

The two comparison charts below show the Q2 earnings and revenue growth relative to other recent periods, both with Amazon’s results (left side chart) and without Amazon’s numbers (right side chart)

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

As you can see above, earnings for the group outside of Amazon are up +10.9% on a +10.0% top-line gain.

Q2 Earnings Season ScorecardThrough Friday, August 7th, we have seen quarterly results from 456 S&P 500 members, or 91.2% of the index’s total membership. Total earnings for these companies are up +41.5% from the same period last year on +14.7% revenue gains, with 83.6% of the companies beating EPS estimates and 76.5% of them beating revenue estimates.

The comparison charts below put the Q2 earnings and revenue growth rates for these index members in a historical context.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The comparison charts below put the Q2 EPS and revenue beats percentages in a historical context.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The unusually strong earnings growth rate of +41.5% and revenue growth of +14.7% are benefiting from Micron (MU - Free Report) and Alphabet’s (GOOGL - Free Report) blockbuster results.

The chart below shows the reported Q2 earnings growth pictures, with and without Alphabet and Micron.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Q2 reporting cycle is in its final stretch now, with half of the 16 Zacks sectors having reported all of their results, including Energy, Finance, Construction, Basic Materials, Utilities, and others.

This week’s line-up includes more than 100 companies, 12 of which are S&P 500 members. Notable companies reporting this week, in addition to the aforementioned retailers, include Estée Lauder, Viking, Deere & Co., and others.

The Earnings Big PictureThe chart below gives you a big-picture view of the overall earnings picture. It highlights current Q2 expectations right alongside actual results from the past four quarters and forecasts for the next three (including 2026 Q2).

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

As you can see here, total S&P 500 earnings for 2026 Q2 are expected to increase by +43.2% compared to the same period last year on +15.2% higher revenues.

Of the 16 Zacks sectors, 13 are expected to have positive earnings growth in Q2, with Energy (earnings growth of +142.8%), Tech (+95.1%), Basic Materials (+52.3%), and Finance (+22.3%) as the major growth drivers.

Q2 earnings growth drops to +18.5% from +43.2% once the Tech sector’s substantial contribution is excluded.

The +142.8% earnings growth for the Energy sector is meaningful, but aggregate earnings growth would still be up +38.9% on an ex-Energy basis. The sector simply no longer has the heft it once did.

The Tech sector has been a pillar of earnings growth over the last two years and is expected to continue playing that role in Q2 and beyond. The chart below shows current earnings and revenue growth expectations for the sector relative to what it actually reported in the preceding two periods and what is expected over the following three quarters.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Tech sector is unlike the other 15 Zacks sectors, as it alone brings in 41.7% of all S&P 500 earnings and accounts for 46.3% of the index’s total market capitalization.

As noted earlier, Alphabet’s Q2 results included a huge boost from a non-operating side, specifically the unrealized gain it has been forced to book on its SpaceX stake following that company’s IPO. Alphabet isn’t alone in having an outsized impact on the sector’s growth pace, as Nvidia and Micron are also exerting an outsized influence.

Excluding the contribution from Alphabet, Micron, and Nvidia, Q2 earnings for the rest of the Zacks Tech sector would be up +33.6% (vs. +95.1% otherwise).

The chart below shows the Tech sector’s earnings growth picture, with and without these three companies.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

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

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

As with Q2 expectations, the Tech sector has an outsized impact on the annual earnings picture as well. Total Tech sector earnings are expected to increase +50.8% from the same period last year on +17.5% higher revenues.

Excluding the Tech sector’s substantial contribution, total S&P 500 earnings for the year would be up +14.7% (vs. +27.0% otherwise).

As we saw with Q2 expectations, contributions from Alphabet, Micron, and Nvidia are also significant here on an annual basis, as the chart below shows.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Revisions Trend – 2026 Q3We showed in an earlier chart that S&P 500 earnings are expected to increase by +21.9% in 2026 Q3 on +10.7% higher revenues.

The revisions trend has remained positive, sustaining the favorable trend in place for almost a year now. The chart below shows how 2026 Q3 earnings growth expectations have evolved lately.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

As noted earlier, these favorable revision patterns are not a new development; they extend a tailwind that has been building for nearly a year. Historically, these upward adjustments were tightly concentrated in Technology and, more recently, Energy following Middle East supply disruptions. However, for Q3 2026, the constructive estimate revisions have broadened significantly, rising across 8 of the 16 Zacks sectors—including Transportation, Finance, Aerospace, Industrials, Utilities, and Construction, as well as Tech and Energy.

For a detailed view of the evolving earnings picture, please check out our weekly Earnings Trends report here >>>> Q2 Earnings Scorecard: Record Margins, Strong Beats and Upward Revisions  

Advisory Resource Group reduced its stake in shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) by 30.8% during the undefined quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,287 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after selling 1,019 shares during the period. Advisory Resource Group's holdings in Micron Technology

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© Photo by Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images

Michael Burry, the Scion Asset Management founder known for “The Big Short,” is adding to his short book despite losses. In his Substack post “Trading Post August 13, 2026,” Burry disclosed that he pressed his bet against Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU | MU Price Prediction) as the stock climbed toward $1,000, and rolled his puts on the Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) up in strike and further out in time.

Burry stated that his goal was “to reduce gross exposure, and to free up some cash, while maintaining the short bias.” He acknowledged being “roughly breakeven” on his shorts, “but the situation is tipping into a loss position across the short portfolio as the market, and certain stocks, rallied.”

Moreover, Burry framed the repositioning as preparation for a “larger fall” in the market. Micron stock has soared 238% year to date, putting the Burry squarely in the path of the AI memory trade.

The Micron Short Gets Bigger Micron shares are trading near $966, up 671% over the past year. Micron’s fiscal Q3 2026 revenue hit $41.5 billion, up 346% year over year, with a GAAP gross margin of 84.6% and seven consecutive EPS beats.

CEO Sanjay Mehrotra stated that “DRAM and NAND industry demand continues to significantly exceed industry supply” and that Micron expects tight conditions to persist beyond calendar 2027. Micron guided Q4 FY2026 revenue to $50 billion plus or minus $1 billion and non-GAAP EPS to $31 plus or minus $1.

The bear case has merit. Memory is historically cyclical, and Micron’s Q4 capex is guided near $10 billion. MU stock trades at a forward P/E ratio of 5.55x, reflecting a market pricing peak earnings, with a beta of 2.213.

The QQQ Roll and the Semiconductor Distinction Burry rolled his January 2027 QQQ ETF puts struck in the mid-to-high $500s into a June 2027 position struck in the mid-to-high $600s, now 6% of his portfolio. QQQ shares, which track the NASDAQ 100 index, are up 19% year to date, so the roll resets a hedge that had gone against him.

A key nuance: Burry closed his put options on the iShares Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SOXX), a losing trade, while keeping his short position in the shares themselves. That semiconductor ETF short remains his largest bearish position at 7% of the portfolio, even though SOXX shares are up 80% year to date. The same logic applies to Oracle (NYSE:ORCL): Burry said Oracle’s puts are too expensive, so he holds the short position in the shares.

What He Covered, What He Spared Burry covered his Tesla short after a decent gain. Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) stock is down 28% year to date. He also covered his Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) short and trimmed his Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) short by 25%. Burry stated: “Quick sizable short sale gains are gift horses in this market.”

He kept his NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR) puts, which he said he “spared.” NVDA stock is up 21% year to date, and PLTR shares are down 1%.

Burry trimmed his long positions across the board, bringing cash to 12%. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment reads neutral on NVIDIA stock, bullish on Palantir stock, bearish on Micron stock, and neutral on Tesla stock.

Is He Asking for Trouble? Pressing a short into a stock that’s up roughly 240% year to date is high-conviction contrarianism. If Burry is right, long-dated Micron puts could pay off asymmetrically; if the AI memory cycle continues, the losses could compound quickly.

Investors can watch for signs of memory pricing rolling over, HBM4 supply catching up with demand, or deterioration in hyperscaler capex commitments. Micron’s analyst target price of $1,501.98 sits well above where MU stock trades today, and 40 of the 45 covering analysts rate the stock a Buy or Strong Buy.

Burry has been early before, and being early can look identical to being wrong for a long time. Position sizing, more than conviction, can separate a bad trade from a devastating loss.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Micron Technology MU shares climbed on Friday after New Street upgraded the memory-chip maker to 'Buy', arguing that artificial intelligence could transform the company into a $2 trillion to $3 trillion business by the end of the decade.

New Street raised its rating from Neutral to Buy and set a price target of $1,250, implying roughly 29% upside from current levels. Micron stock was up 1.3% in trading, giving the company a market capitalization of around $1 trillion.

The bullish outlook comes as analysts increasingly expect AI-driven demand for memory chips to reshape the industry's long-term growth trajectory while making earnings less cyclical than in previous decades.

New Street said Micron remains attractively valued despite its recent rally, citing the company's price-to-cost-of-goods-sold ratio as evidence that the shares still offer value.

The stock has already gained more than 10% over the past five trading sessions.

The brokerage expects AI to become the dominant driver of memory demand in the coming years.

According to its forecasts, AI applications will account for roughly two-thirds of total memory demand, with annual memory demand growth reaching 15% beyond 2030, compared with the historical average of about 10% over the past two decades.

The firm also argued that the memory business is becoming structurally stronger.

It said high-bandwidth memory "deserves a premium to commodity DRAM" because demand is increasingly supported by long-term AI infrastructure spending rather than traditional cyclical factors.

Looking further ahead, New Street projects Micron could generate more than $150 billion in annual free cash flow by 2030 while accumulating over $600 billion in cash, describing both figures as peak levels.

Micron's rally has also been supported by improving sentiment across the broader memory sector.

Investors have returned to memory-chip stocks following Sandisk's optimistic long-term outlook presented at its investor day earlier this week.

Shares of South Korean memory producer SK Hynix also moved higher in trading.

Analysts expect memory pricing to remain strong throughout the year.

KeyBanc forecasts dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) prices will increase by 15% to 20% in the third quarter compared with the previous quarter, followed by another 15% increase in the fourth quarter.

For NAND flash memory, the firm expects prices to rise by 30% to 40% in the third quarter before advancing another 15% in the final quarter of the year.

Despite Micron's strong performance, analysts argue the stock still trades at a discount to many semiconductor peers.

According to FactSet data, Micron trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of about 6.3 times, though analysts note traditional valuation metrics can be misleading because memory earnings have historically been cyclical.

UBS analyst Timothy Arcuri recently reiterated a $1,625 price target, valuing the company at 11 times his projected 2029 earnings.

Arcuri said he is using 2029 earnings because they "best reflect Micron's through-cycle earnings power under LTAs", adding that his model assumes "a moderate memory downcycle" by then.

With analysts seeing high target prices for Micron, investors weighing an entry point can use investment apps to access research tools and execute trades at the right time.

With AI infrastructure spending continuing to accelerate and analysts forecasting sustained strength in memory pricing, investors are increasingly viewing Micron as a long-term beneficiary of the expanding AI ecosystem.

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Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU | MU Price Prediction) at $949.83 looks compelling, and the rally still has room to run. Quarterly revenue jumped from $11.3 billion in Q4 2025 to $41.5 billion in Q3 2026, making memory the scarce commodity of the AI era. Micron is the only U.S.-based supplier.

Micron sells DRAM and NAND memory into cloud, mobile, automotive, and embedded markets. High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) sits alongside every AI accelerator shipped by NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) and AMD (NASDAQ:AMD), moving from a rounding error to the company’s most strategic revenue stream in under two years.

The move from $118.29 in early September 2025 to $949.83 reflects fundamental repricing. Earnings, margins, and forward guidance have all reset higher in lockstep.

An HBM Franchise That Prices Like a Monopoly
Micron’s Q3 FY26 non-GAAP gross margin hit 84.9%, more than double year-ago levels, driven by HBM pricing and NAND increases in the mid-80s percentage range sequentially. Management has signed 16 Strategic Customer Agreements covering roughly $100 billion of minimum committed revenue, with about $22 billion in cash deposits and letters of credit backing them.

CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said “the gross margins at the floor will be well beyond the peaks that we experienced” in past cycles, meaning even a downturn should clear prior peak profitability. Q4 FY26 guidance calls for $50 billion in revenue and $31 in non-GAAP EPS, leaving the stock near 6x forward earnings.

Insider Selling and Cyclical Risk
The bear case starts with insider behavior. CEO Mehrotra executed 122 separate sell transactions across three months, and CPO April Arnzen sold 35,364 shares at $1,077 to $1,096. No insiders bought.

Citi cut its price target to $1,150 from $1,400 on August 7, arguing memory prices peak in 2027, and SK Hynix announced a $38 billion fab expansion will add competing HBM capacity. Memory is cyclical, and $7.8 billion in quarterly capex assumes AI demand keeps compounding.

Why Patience Has a Real Cost
A Hold case rests on tension between record fundamentals and heavy insider distribution near the top. The stock has returned 665.57% over one year, and pullbacks of 20% or more have been routine. Waiting for the next reset is defensible.

The cost is watching a company under multi-year take-or-pay contracts continue to compound. Watch HBM4E qualification milestones, quarterly SCA disclosures, and any sign that memory pricing rolls over.

What the Data Says
Micron trades at $949.83 with a market cap near $1.03 trillion, a trailing P/E of 20, and a forward P/E of 6. The consensus analyst price target sits at $1,501.98, implying meaningful upside.

Coverage tilts decisively bullish, with 40 Buy ratings, 5 Hold, and zero Sell. Year to date Micron is up 233% against a much smaller gain for the S&P 500, and the beat streak has reached seven consecutive quarters.

Why The Bull Case Holds At $949.83
At $949.83, the bull case remains intact. The path to further appreciation runs through the September earnings report, where guidance of $50 billion in revenue and $31 EPS would annualize to more than $120 in earnings power, leaving forward multiples in the mid-single digits.

Strategic Customer Agreements de-risk the traditional memory bust by locking floor pricing above prior peak margins across roughly half of expected revenue. This structural change separates this cycle from every prior one and is not yet reflected at 6x forward earnings.

The thesis breaks if HBM pricing cracks meaningfully before 2027, if lead customer concentration on HBM4 turns into share loss, or if capex overshoots demand. Watch pricing commentary quarter to quarter and whether SCA coverage grows toward the targeted 50% of revenue.

Memory is now a strategic asset. Micron owns the U.S. supply, and the market is pricing the stock like a commodity cyclical, which is why the current level still looks reasonable on the fundamentals.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Amazon and Alphabet are two of the biggest spenders in artificial intelligence (AI). At the midpoint, Amazon expects to spend $220 billion on capital expenditures while Alphabet projects about $200 billion. That means more growth for many companies, especially those supplying the computing hardware.

Two that I think are primed to benefit more than most are Nvidia (NVDA +0.54%) and Micron (MU +4.23%). Both companies are in a great position to deliver monster growth over the next few years, and I think they make for excellent investments now.

Image source: Getty Images.

Nvidia
AI demand has made Nvidia the world's largest company for a reason. There is incredible demand for its GPUs and the products that support them, and with Nvidia GPUs being the industry standard, cloud computing providers like Amazon and Alphabet are essentially required to buy from them. With both companies spending more than they anticipated at the start of the year, Nvidia is primed to benefit.

However, it's doing pretty well as-is.

We'll hear more from Nvidia later this month when it reports its fiscal second-quarter results, but in Q1, Nvidia delivered strong 85% revenue growth. That doesn't seem possible for a company with a $5 trillion market cap, but that's what it's delivering. 2026 isn't the end, either. Alphabet told investors during its Q1 conference call that there will be a significant increase in 2027 spending levels compared with 2026. That shows up in analyst estimates for Nvidia, as they project next fiscal year's revenue growth will be around 43%.

That shows just how well positioned Nvidia is to take advantage of this new wave of AI spending, and with the stock priced at 24 times forward earnings, it looks like a solid value.

NVDA PE Ratio (Forward) data by YCharts

Nvidia is poised to deliver outsize growth over the next few years, and I think investors should be loading up on shares.

Micron
Micron operated in the memory chip industry, which was specifically called out by Amazon as the reason for its increased capital expenditures guidance. This reflects a reality many already know: Memory prices have gone through the roof.

Demand for memory chips far outpaces supply, which has resulted in the price of memory skyrocketing. One of Micron's peers, Sandisk, informed investors during its last earnings report that two-thirds of its revenue growth came from price increases. As long as there is more demand than supply, this trend will likely persist.

Micron's management team also commented on the shortage and expects the market to remain tight beyond 2027. That leaves a lot of time for Micron to make a boatload of money, and makes it a stock worth considering now. After all, the market hasn't priced in any of its fiscal year 2027 growth (ending August 2027) yet.

MU PE Ratio (Forward 1y) data by YCharts

At just 5.6 times projected 2027 earnings, Micron looks like a very cheap stock primed to explode higher. Right now, the market is a bit skeptical of what the memory chip market will do in the near term, but investors already have several clues that current market conditions will last through at least the end of 2027.

That leaves plenty of time for investors to earn a nice return on Micron stock, and if data center demand remains rampant beyond 2027, there could be a case for buying and holding Micron for several years. Time will tell how that pans out, but as of now, it looks like a solid stock to buy and hold.

Keithen Drury has positions in Alphabet, Amazon, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Micron Technology, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Shares of Micron Technology (MU +4.23%) charged sharply higher on Thursday, jumping as much as 7.3%. As of 2:04 p.m. ET, the stock was still up 6.6%.

The catalyst that sent the semiconductor specialist higher was media reports detailing the company's upcoming capital allocation plans.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

Show me the money In late 2024, Micron received a $6.1 billion chip-making subsidy from the U.S. Department of Commerce to produce semiconductors in the U.S. The agreement, formally known as the CHIPS Incentive Program, rewarded companies that agreed to increase manufacturing in the U.S. One of the stipulations was that none of the funds could be used for share repurchases, and recipients agreed to refrain from stock buybacks for a period of time after receiving the subsidy.

In the fiscal 2026 Q3 earnings call with analysts in June, CFO Mark Murphy revealed that Micron was sitting on what it called "excess cash." He addressed the issue of returning capital to shareholders, saying, "Over time, we expect to return 100% of our excess cash to shareholders."

He went further, noting, "the principal capital return we have will be share repurchase. I said today in the prepared remarks that we intend to increase our capital return from Dec. 9, which is the second anniversary of our CHIPS agreement signature." He pointed to the company's record cash flow, noting that in the past two quarters, Micron had "generated as much as [in] much of the company's history."

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Several press reports have surfaced, recounting that interaction, and the prospect of a robust capital return program has investors cheering.

Even after today's rally, Micron stock is selling for just 22 times earnings, an attractive multiple for a company growing revenue and profits at triple-digit rates. Bears will argue that chip stocks are cyclical and that the current cycle will eventually end. However, as I've detailed before, Micron has taken steps to lock many of its major customers into multi-year, non-cancelable contracts to ensure its windfall continues.

As such, I would argue that Micron stock is still a buy.

Danny Vena, CPA has positions in Micron Technology. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Micron Technology. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Micron Technology (MU +4.23%) and Sandisk (SNDK +13.67%) have been up and down stocks. While they were incredible investments at the start of 2026, these two stocks are now trading down 25% to 42%, respectively, from their 2026 highs. However, I think they're both ready for a rebound and could easily end the year strongly.

The reality is that memory chips are in short supply, and prices continue to rise. This reality won't wrap up for years, making these two stocks excellent investments to consider in both 2026 and 2027.

Image source: Getty Images.

Top AI companies are pointing fingers at the memory chip industry If you haven't priced a new computer over the past year, you may be oblivious to the fact that memory chip prices are soaring. There are two primary types of memory, NAND and DRAM. Both components are in short supply due to the artificial intelligence (AI) build-out, which is consuming nearly all available supply. When demand is high and supply is low, prices skyrocket, which is why consumer hardware is also being affected by this.

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Consumers aren't the only ones affected, as several major AI players are also pointing the blame at memory chips.

Amazon (AMZN -0.80%) recently raised its capital expenditure guidance from $200 billion in 2026 to $220 billion, all because of rising memory chip prices. Alphabet (GOOG +0.46%) (GOOGL +0.82%) increased its capital expenditure figure by a similar amount, but didn't call out memory chips by name. Space Exploration Technologies (SPCX -3.33%) CEO Elon Musk called out memory chips on the company's conference call, claiming the industry is increasing capacity by only about 20% per year. In comparison, demand has increased by 200%.

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These are major players in the industry discussing the memory chip crisis, and companies like Sandisk and Micron are working on massively increasing capacity by building new facilities, but that takes time. Those facilities won't be online until later in 2027 or 2028, so current market conditions with rampant demand will persist, potentially driving up prices even more over the next year. This will add more fuel to the memory chip market fire, and Micron and Sandisk will be in a prime position to benefit.

The future looks bright for Micron and Sandisk Over the next year, both Micron and Sandisk's revenue and earnings are expected to soar. Sandisk just started its fiscal 2027 in July, and Wall Street expects it to deliver 140% growth during FY 2027, with earnings per share (EPS) projected to rise from $70.88 to $212.15. Micron is just wrapping up its fiscal 2026 and will start fiscal 2027 in September. For FY 2027, Wall Street anticipates 85% growth, with EPS forecast to increase to $154.89 from $73.39.

These are huge increases and show that both stocks are far from done growing. Yet, the market doesn't set much of a premium on them.

Data by YCharts.

That's because the market is worried about what memory chip prices will look like once more capacity is added to the industry. The assumption is that prices could tank, but if memory is in short supply, the rest of the AI ecosystem may go into extreme build-out mode once memory capacity has right-sized itself to demand, keeping prices fairly elevated but consuming all available demand. If that's the case, then these two could be in a prime position to skyrocket over the next year and a half.

Right now, the market is assuming the worst-case scenario for these two. Rarely does that occur, and I think skepticism about the longevity of these two stocks is a great reason to buy the stocks now. There is still clearly a massive runway for AI growth, which will use a lot of memory chips.

Micron Technology (MU) stock extended its rebound to a third straight session on Thursday, rising 6% to $966.01 after rising around 5% on Wednesday. The stock remains up more than 200% this year, although it is still down 20% from its late-June peak.