Halfway through the year, Woods is making a change to his top two picks.
• What’s going on with NVDA stock?
In an interview with Benzinga at the halfway point of 2026, Woods is ready to make a change to his favorite Magnificent Seven stocks for the second half of the year and into 2027.
"I still love the story in Alphabet," Woods tells Benzinga. "I like what they’re doing."
On the technical side for Alphabet, Woods said he’d like to see the stock stay above the $350 level.
Woods says Alphabet being added to the Dow Jones Industrial Average could be a good thing or a bad thing, but he much prefers the stock over Verizon, the name Alphabet replaced in the index.
"I think it’s a great thing."
After naming Tesla a "story to watch in 2026" and picking the stock as one of his top picks for 2026, Woods is making a change.
"Tesla, I’m a little weary of it. Looked for Tesla technically and once that broke $420 I was out."
While there could be speculation of a merger between Tesla and SpaceX, Woods said he’s going to avoid the stock.
"I think Nvidia has now given us an opportunity to get it on the cheap here. The recent weakness in the stock should bode well for investors who’ve been waiting for an opportunity to get in."
Woods said Nvidia’s revenue growth is outpacing others and they’re not spending as much other hyperscalers.
"Their fundamental story hasn’t changed."
Woods said Nvidia stock looks "inviting" for the next six months if not longer.
"I think these are the two that will have the longevity."
Woods calls Alphabet a core holding and tells Benzinga he puts his money where his mouth is, as he’s owned the stock for more than 15 years.
Just missing out on the top two was Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), which Woods said is a great company, but might be more of a long-term growth story.
Is Magnificent Seven Still Magnificent?"I think it will be a top index because those seven stocks’ market caps are now in the top 10. And thot’s how you want to look at it," Woods tells Benzinga.
Woods said it’s natural for some other stocks to come and take market cap away.
"But when you look at the story that shaped us in this bull run, this secular bull run, those were the seven stocks that started it."
Image via Shutterstock
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Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU | MU Price Prediction) just delivered one of the most remarkable nine-month runs in mega-cap history, and the memory cycle bulls are convinced this is only the second inning. Our model takes a more cautious view.
After running the numbers through our proprietary framework, the 24/7 Wall St. price target for Micron is $996.22, which implies a 12.02% downside from the current price.
24/7 Wall St. Price Target Summary Metric Value Current Price $1,132.33 24/7 Wall St. Price Target $996.22 Upside/Downside -12.02% Recommendation HOLD Confidence Level 90% Why We Could Be Wrong Before going deeper, I want to be fair to the bulls. Micron is one of the most divisive stocks in the market right now, and real upside could come from sustained HBM4 pricing power into calendar 2027 or the activation of the 16 long-term supply deals secured through 2030.
Our 24/7 Wall St. price target is one datapoint among many. A detailed bull case appears below outlining why Micron could outrun our model.
An 11x Run Meets a Blowout Quarter The setup here is extreme. Micron is up 296.92% year to date and 800.86% over the past year, trading 9% off the $1,255 52-week high.
Q3 FY2026, filed June 24, 2026, was a blowout: revenue of $41.46B beat by 17.6%, non-GAAP EPS of $25.11 beat by 23.79%, and GAAP gross margin reached 84.6%. Management guided Q4 to $50B in revenue with non-GAAP EPS of $31. Yet shares fell 6.69% the day after the report, hinting that expectations had run ahead of the fundamentals.
The Bull Case Above the Target The bull case rests on AI memory becoming a structurally scarce asset. CEO Sanjay Mehrotra called out “multi-year Strategic Customer Agreements” enhancing predictability, and HBM4 is ramping in high volume with HBM4E targeted for calendar 2027.
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Sell-side analysts are loudly bullish: Deutsche Bank lifted its target to $1,550, Morgan Stanley moved to $1,200, and DA Davidson went to $2,000 arguing the memory cycle is “not yet over.” The consensus target is $1,365.08. If HBM4 pricing holds and Q4 guidance proves conservative, shares could realistically test $1,500.
What Could Go Wrong The risks are mostly cyclical. Weekly RSI sits at 81.98, deeply overbought for the eighth straight week. Historically, Micron has pulled back after earnings beats: the average one-week change post-earnings across eight quarters is -1.13%. Capex of $7.83B in a single quarter plus a $325M loss on debt prepayments show the cost of staying ahead.
Morningstar flagged “yellow flags for memory stocks”, and insider activity skews toward selling. Bulls would counter that the heavy capex funds HBM4E capacity that pays off through 2030. A bear scenario lands near $725.
Hold for Now My verdict is hold with 90% confidence. The 24/7 Wall St. price target of $996.22 reflects a stock that has priced in a perfect cycle. A more constructive setup would require Q4 revenue above $51B with margins above 86%.
The picture weakens if RSI stays above 80 and hyperscaler capex commentary softens. The factor that tips the scale: the model values forward EPS at a sober multiple, and current pricing demands the cycle keeps accelerating.
Year 24/7 Wall St. Price Target 2026 $996 2030 $972 These projections assume Micron continues executing on HBM4 and HBM4E with disciplined capex. A sharper memory downcycle in 2029 or 2030 could pull shares toward the bear path near $624.
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Micron (MU 9.85%) stock is seeing a substantial pullback in Wednesday's trading, with shares down 9.6% as of 2:10 p.m. ET. The S&P 500 was up 0.1% at the same point in the day's trading, and the Nasdaq Composite was off 0.2%.
While moves for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite look relatively muted today, many leading chip stocks are getting hit with big sell-offs. Meanwhile, investors appear to be moving into artificial intelligence (AI) software stocks. On the other hand, there was actually some good news for Micron today.
Image source: Getty Images.
Micron loses ground as investors shift into AI software stocks Top AI chip stocks have been massive winners this year, and few names in the space have been bigger winners than Micron. Even with some recent volatility, the company's share price is up roughly 267% year to date. But while the AI chip trade has been hot in 2026, bullish momentum has wavered recently.
While there hasn't been any negative news for Micron recently, the company's share price has faced some pressure as investors take profits on AI chip stocks. At the same time, investment dollars appear to be rotating back into artificial intelligence software stocks.
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Micron lands new partnership deal Micron stock is moving lower today, but there has actually been some good news for shareholders. The company announced that it had entered into a new partnership with General Motors. Through the contract, Micron will provide memory chips and storage platforms to support GM's vehicle production and deliveries. Long-term contracts securing high profit margins have been a major source of bullish momentum for Micron over the last year, and it looks like the company is poised to continue recording wins along those lines.
Keith Noonan has positions in Micron Technology. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Micron Technology. The Motley Fool recommends General Motors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
HomeIndustriesComputers/ElectronicsTech StocksTech StocksMost of Sandisk’s annual revenue could eventually come from its new business model contracts that provide better visibility, BofA saysJuly 1, 2026, 2:17 p.m. ET
Shares of Sandisk were falling Wednesday as investors moved out of the broader chip sector following a strong run in the first half of the year. But with supply shortages of NAND expected to persist through next year, one analyst sees more room for Sandisk’s stock to run.
A possible factor dragging on the chip sector Wednesday is a Bloomberg report that Meta Platforms META is considering selling its excess cloud capacity, D.A. Davidson managing director Gil Luria told MarketWatch.
Micron Technology's (MU 8.69%) fiscal 2026 third-quarter earnings left no doubt that the memory boom is still here. Not only did the company smash guidance, but it also told investors to expect more than 20% sequential growth for its fiscal 2026 fourth quarter.
Naturally, investors piled into Micron after earnings, but it's not the only winner. Sandisk (SNDK 9.36%) might be the better play post-Micron earnings, and investors should look with anticipation leading up to when Sandisk reveals its latest results in August.
Image source: Getty Images.
Sandisk is riding the same tailwinds as Micron The broad catalyst for memory stocks is that artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure requires memory chips and products so AI chips can manage large workloads and become more efficient. Sandisk's NAND flash memory chips have become a staple for AI infrastructure, just like Micron's high-bandwidth memory chips. Those products have helped Sandisk and Micron outpace the S&P 500 by a wide margin over the past year, but Sandisk actually has higher financial growth rates than Micron. That's a big deal after Micron's blowout earnings, and as August approaches.
Micron's fiscal 2026 Q2, which ended Feb. 26, 2026, is the most accurate comparable to Sandisk's fiscal 2026 Q3 results, which ended April 3, 2026. Micron delivered 196% year-over-year revenue growth in that quarter, compared to Sandisk's 251% year-over-year revenue growth.
Sandisk's 97% sequential growth in its fiscal 2026 Q3 also exceeded Micron's 75% sequential growth in its fiscal 2026 Q2. This scenario also played out in the previous quarter, showing an AI-fueled trend. If it continues again when Sandisk reports earnings in August, the stock can continue to rally despite gaining more than 600% year to date.
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Sandisk's rising valuation reflects better fundamentals A soaring stock price comes with a higher valuation, but in Sandisk's case, the fundamentals back it up. After the run-up, Sandisk trades at a 32.3 forward P/E ratio after having a 19.3 forward P/E ratio less than one year ago.
Micron's recent earnings suggest Sandisk can maintain or even exceed current growth rate projections that have warranted a 32.3 forward P/E ratio. Micron also said in its fiscal year 2026 third-quarter press release that it secured strategic customer agreements that offer revenue visibility for multiple years.
Those agreements further shatter the idea of a cyclical memory market. The fact that tech giants are agreeing to these types of deals implies that Sandisk may report similar multi-year agreements in August.
AI inference and agentic AI tailwinds should continue to heat up for multiple years. The tech is still new, AI data centers are being built across the country, and the world's largest companies keep throwing money at this revolutionary opportunity. Micron's earnings results show that the wins keep piling up, and Sandisk may report the same in August.
Micron Technology, Inc. has climbed to the top AI name for 2026 as the memory shortage continues to plague the entire supply chain. We think the upside isn't coming from AI but from the offset of it, meaning HBM is cannibalizing capacity and pushing non-AI memory ASP much higher. In our opinion, this points to the cyclicality of memory and the unsustainability of further upside to the current margin projection.
Micron (MU 8.98%) may be moving from a cyclical memory stock into a key AI infrastructure supplier. The Anthropic partnership, rising HBM demand, and tight memory supply could support a much bigger bullish thesis, but the rally also comes with real valuation and competition risks.
Stock prices used were the market prices of June 25, 2026. The video was published on June 29, 2026.
Rick Orford has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Micron Technology. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Rick Orford is an affiliate of The Motley Fool and may be compensated for promoting its services. If you choose to subscribe through their link, they will earn some extra money that supports their channel. Their opinions remain their own and are unaffected by The Motley Fool.
Micron Technology MU shares fell more than 8% on Wednesday as a broad selloff in semiconductor stocks gathered pace, with investors locking in profits after a record first half for the sector.
At the same time, a fresh class-action lawsuit targeting major memory chipmakers added to the pressure.
The decline was part of a wider retreat across chip stocks.
SanDisk dropped more than 10%, Advanced Micro Devices lost about 5%, Nvidia fell over 2%, and Seagate Technology declined more than 6%.
The Nasdaq Composite was down more than 0.4% as investors rotated out of technology names after months of strong gains.
The VanEck Semiconductor ETF, which had surged 72% during the first six months of the year for its strongest first-half performance since launching in 2000, fell more than 4.7% on Wednesday.
Micron has been among this year's standout performers, with the stock rising more than 230% amid surging demand for artificial intelligence-related memory products.
The rally has also attracted significant retail investor participation, contributing to heightened volatility.
Market participants have increasingly questioned whether the rapid gains in memory stocks can be sustained as the industry approaches another expansion phase.
Concerns have also emerged over additional manufacturing capacity planned in South Korea, announced last week, raising fears that the traditionally cyclical memory-chip industry could eventually swing from tight supply to oversupply.
The combination of stretched valuations and profit-taking weighed on the sector, even as analysts continue to forecast healthy long-term demand driven by AI infrastructure spending.
Adding to investor caution, Micron has been named alongside fellow memory chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix in a US class-action lawsuit alleging the companies deliberately restricted production of conventional DRAM memory chips to inflate prices.
The complaint alleges the three manufacturers reduced output of mainstream DDR3 and DDR4 memory while shifting manufacturing capacity toward higher-margin high-bandwidth memory (HBM), which is used in AI servers and advanced computing systems.
According to the plaintiffs, the industry's pivot toward AI became a cover for creating an artificial shortage in conventional memory products.
Together, Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron account for roughly 90% of the global DRAM market, giving their production decisions significant influence over industry pricing.
The lawsuit claims prices for conventional DRAM have climbed roughly 700% over the past four years.
The case also revives memories of the industry's previous legal troubles.
During the mid-2000s, Samsung and Hynix pleaded guilty in a US Department of Justice investigation into DRAM price fixing, paying criminal fines of $300 million and $185 million, respectively.
Micron cooperated with that investigation and avoided a corporate penalty, although one employee later pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice.
While that history may add weight to the latest allegations, legal experts note that proving coordinated supply restrictions remains challenging.
Analysts remain constructive on memory outlookDespite the lawsuit and the market selloff, analysts continue to project favorable industry fundamentals.
KeyBanc analyst John Vinh noted on Tuesday that contract prices for several standard DRAM configurations rose about 3% in June from the previous month, while NAND flash memory prices increased 2.4%.
"While the industry is building out capacity in response to AI-driven DRAM/HBM demand, meaningful capacity is not expected until 2027, which still will not be meaningful enough to close the gap," wrote Vinh.
"Given the constrained supply environment, industry production discipline, and outsized data center demand for HBM and DDR5, we anticipate a continued strong demand and positive pricing trends through 2026 for both NAND and DRAM," he added.
Vinh maintains an Overweight rating and a $1,600 price target on Micron.
Experts also point to Micron's strategy of securing long-term customer agreements with minimum pricing provisions, which management believes will help keep gross margins "well above" previous cyclical peaks.
Those contracts are expected to account for about 40% of company revenue, with management aiming to increase that proportion over time.
UBS analyst Timothy Arcuri said this suggests Micron believes it can sustain gross margins of 70% to 75%, lower than the roughly 85% reported in its latest quarter but still significantly above its previous peak of about 62% achieved in 2018.
Arcuri maintains a Buy rating with a $1,625 price target, while the average Wall Street target for Micron stands at $1,543, according to FactSet.
The Micron Technology logo is displayed on a smartphone screen with the company's website in the background, in Creteil, France, on May 27, 2026. The American semiconductor company officially crosses the symbolic threshold of $1 trillion in market capitalization on Wall Street the previous day. (Photo by Samuel Boivin/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
NurPhoto via Getty Images
This article was written by Doug Nathman, with research by his team at Trefis.
The memory industry is in the midst of an unprecedented boom.
AI servers are driving unprecedented demand for high-bandwidth memory; supply remains tight, and DRAM prices have surged, forcing PC and smartphone makers to look beyond their traditional suppliers. That search is increasingly leading them to China. Apple has reportedly sought approval to source DRAM chips from blacklisted ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), while Dell Technologies, HP Inc., Acer, and ASUS are reportedly considering similar moves.
For companies like Micron (MU), which recently posted gross margins above 84%, the real question is whether today’s extraordinary profitability can survive China’s entry into the market.
And if history is any guide, investors should start paying close attention.
China has followed this playbook before. Solar panels, batteries, EVs, and shipbuilding all went through the same cycle: state-backed investment, reverse-engineered technology, and relentless manufacturing scale, until established global players could no longer compete on cost. Until now, memory chips seemed immune. For nearly three decades, the DRAM market has been dominated by Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron, whose technological lead and manufacturing expertise kept challengers at bay.
But the current shortage may be creating the opening China has been waiting for. If this shortage gives Chinese memory makers their first meaningful foothold with global OEMs, it could mark the biggest competitive shift the DRAM industry has seen in 30 years.
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The Squeeze That Created An OpeningThe proximate cause is the AI memory supercycle. Conventional DRAM contract prices surged between 93% and 98% QoQ over the first quarter of this year.
Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron are shifting wafer capacity toward high-bandwidth memory, the premium high-speed memory that sits alongside Nvidia (NVDA) AI accelerators, because that is where the margin is. This is having a major side effect: commodity DRAM, the kind that goes into laptops and phones, is getting squeezed out. Apple just raised MacBook and iPad prices by between $100 and $300, citing component costs, while simultaneously shopping for a cheaper Chinese alternative. Both moves point to the same conclusion: management sees this as structural, not a passing cycle.
That is the opening companies like China’s CXMT could step into. And the speed of its rise is notable. The company began volume DRAM production in 2020. By 2026, its global revenue share had reached 8%, up from 3% a year earlier, making it the fourth-largest DRAM maker. CXMT currently has two 12-inch DRAM fabrication plants with a combined capacity of about 300,000 wafers per month. There are reports that, with a new Shanghai facility as well as other new capacity, CXMT will double its DRAM wafer output to approximately 600,000 wafers per month, according to Reuters. This compares to Micron’s own 385,000 capacity. Revenue is on pace for roughly 700% year-over-year growth in early 2026, with the company posting its first-ever profitable quarter. Its DDR5 chips are already inside Lenovo laptops shipping today.
Investors are betting that Micron will see a multi-year upcycle, driven by long-term contracts for memory. But there could be a catch.
There Are Still ChallengesStill, China’s memory push has a problem that its other sectors, such as solar and EVs, did not. Those industries were won mostly by building factories faster and cheaper than anyone else, using technology that was largely available to whoever could afford it. Memory is different because of a single piece of equipment: extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines, made only by the Dutch company ASML, which are not essential for DRAM production but are critical for manufacturing the most advanced chips efficiently. Washington has blocked ASML from selling these machines to Chinese firms, so CXMT is stuck building chips with older tools, no matter how much capital Beijing throws at it.
That shows up clearly in the numbers. CXMT’s DDR5 die is roughly 40% larger than Samsung’s equivalent, which means fewer usable chips per wafer and a structurally worse cost base, not a better one. The larger die size is itself a byproduct of working without EUV: older lithography tools cannot pack circuits as densely, so CXMT needs more silicon to do the same job. Its cost per bit remains more than 30% above the three leading suppliers, suggesting its current profitability is a function of unusually strong pricing across the whole market, not genuine product superiority.
The gap is starker in HBM, the high-bandwidth memory used in AI accelerators and the segment driving SK Hynix’s and Samsung’s surge. CXMT has only sampled HBM2 and HBM3 chips with customers like Huawei; commercial-volume production keeps slipping, even as rivals are already shipping HBM4. Unlike DDR5, catching up in HBM requires far more than manufacturing scale and capital investment.
What It Means For Micron, Samsung And SK HynixFor the likes of Micron, Samsung, and SK Hynix, China’s rise is a challenge, but not an existential one. CXMT is emerging as a credible competitor in commodity DRAM, where it could pressure pricing in PCs and smartphones. But the real investment story has shifted to HBM, where demand from AI accelerators remains strong and technological barriers are much higher. As long as China lacks access to EUV lithography and advanced HBM manufacturing, the incumbents are likely to maintain their lead in the industry’s fastest-growing and most profitable market.
That said, the industry’s trajectory will depend not just on technology, but also on regulation. Export controls, licensing decisions, and trade policy could determine how quickly Chinese suppliers expand globally and how much of the memory market ultimately becomes contestable.
A disciplined portfolio approach helps smooth these risks while still participating in long-term growth themes. The Trefis High Quality (HQ) Portfolio has consistently outperformed its market benchmark since inception, delivering cumulative returns of over 105%.
The iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF (NYSEARCA:MTUM) has run hard this year, climbing 30% year to date and 38% over the past 12 months to roughly $326. Headline numbers, though, mask a violent rotation inside MTUM’s portfolio. The AI/cloud mega-caps that powered the momentum trade through 2025 have stumbled, while one AI-memory name has done almost all the lifting. With the next MSCI semi-annual reconstitution due in late November, MTUM holders need to understand exactly what the rebalance could rewire.
What MTUM Owns Right Now and Why the Mix Is Cracking MTUM tracks the MSCI USA Momentum Index, which selects large- and mid-cap U.S. stocks scored on risk-adjusted 6- and 12-month price momentum. Expense ratio is a cheap 0.15%, and the fund rebalances semi-annually in May and November. The current cohort was set at the May reset, which loaded the portfolio with AI/cloud leaders. That cohort is now fracturing in real time: top cloud mega-cap holdings have slipped over the last month, while Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU | MU Price Prediction) is up 297% YTD. That single name is masking weakness across the rest of the book.
The Macro Factor That Matters Most: Real Yields and AI Capex The one macro variable to monitor is the 10-year Treasury yield, currently near 4.4%. MTUM’s top weights are long-duration growth names whose valuations and capex plans are tied to financing conditions. The cloud trio collectively spent enormous sums on capex last quarter, almost all aimed at AI infrastructure. If the 10-year breaks above 4.75%, expect further multiple compression in the cloud trio and a knock-on hit to Micron, whose HBM demand depends on hyperscaler order books staying open.
The signal to watch is the CME FedWatch tool for the September FOMC meeting and the weekly Treasury yield prints on the Fed’s H.15 release. Check both at least weekly. The historical playbook is 2022, when a yield surge from 1.5% to 4.3% drove momentum factor drawdowns of roughly 30% as growth leaders deflated. A move the other way, a confirmed cut path and a 10-year drifting toward 4%, would refuel the existing AI-heavy cohort before the November rebalance even fires.
The Fund-Specific Factor: The November Reconstitution The single biggest fund-specific risk is the November rebalance and Micron’s potential index weighting. Micron just reported revenue of $41.5 billion, up 346% YoY, with non-GAAP gross margin at 85% and Q4 guidance of $50 billion. Its stock is up 801% in a year. That trajectory all but guarantees a top-tier momentum score at the November reconstitution, which could push MTUM’s semiconductor weight materially higher and lift the fund’s beta toward Micron’s roughly 2.2.
Watch the MSCI USA Momentum Index methodology page and iShares’ MTUM fact sheet around mid-November for the post-rebalance holdings file. Also keep an eye on lower-beta names that could absorb concentration: defensive healthcare and large-cap consumer-tech holdings could earn higher weights and dampen the AI concentration. For investors seeking pure mega-cap exposure without rebalance whiplash, a market-cap index fund offers a different mechanic worth researching.
The Bottom Line Watch the 10-year Treasury yield: a break above 4.75% would pressure MTUM’s AI-heavy book before any rebalance can rescue it. Then watch the November reconstitution. If Micron enters at a high weight and the cloud trio gets trimmed, MTUM effectively becomes a more cyclical, semiconductor-tilted fund than the one investors bought in May.
Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Microsoft didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.
I think the primary reason why Micron (MU 6.54%) is so interesting is because of the surge in component pricing.
*Stock prices used were the afternoon prices of June 27, 2026. The video was published on June 29, 2026.
Parkev Tatevosian, CFA has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Micron Technology. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Parkev Tatevosian is an affiliate of The Motley Fool and may be compensated for promoting its services. If you choose to subscribe through his link, he will earn some extra money that supports his channel. His opinions remain his own and are unaffected by The Motley Fool.
At VettaFi, we’ve been talking a lot about bottlenecks as a concept. Some of the brightest equity market opportunities for capital growth are tied to bottlenecks in a supply chain-context. The AI theme is a prime example. For instance, look at the recent record-breaking results for Micron Technology (MU). The semiconductor company is widely known for its memory and data storage products. We’ve seen semiconductors be a driving force in the AI investment theme opportunity, but memory, specifically, is its latest high profile bottleneck.
Key Takeways: Bottlenecks are powerful drivers of capital growth with near-term opportunities. Micron Technologies shows a unique paradox between momentum and deep value. ETFs offer diverse paths to access the squeeze. Even as talk about over-valuation and over-exposure to AI-related names grows louder, Micron reminds us of the power of a sticky-for-now bottleneck. The company delivered a blockbuster earnings report last week, beating revenue, earnings per share, and margins. Forward guidance was also positive, as demand should continue to outstrip supply’s capabilities to keep up with it. The stock is up 265% in the first half of 2026 (as of June 30). It gained more than 834% in the past 12 months. And yet, its forward P/E is around 8–9x.
Micron delivered a “transformational earnings report,” to quote Jeremy Schwartz, who recently shared with us his midyear market views. “This is one of the key battleground stocks, and it’s a fascinating stock for indexes because it’s not an expensive stock. It’s a question of, ‘Are its earnings sustainable? Is the memory for Micron a cyclical story?’”
“We call [the latest]earnings report a transformational story because it’s an inflection for Micron,” he added. “They basically said, ‘We’ve got strategic people who are locked in memory for the next four to five years.’ The bottlenecks are not getting oversupply. It’s actually worsening, because there’s so much demand for this stuff.”
The takeaway here, as we look to the second half of the year and kick the tires on some of the hottest investment themes of 2026? It looks like this bottleneck will continue to remain in focus, as Micron offers us the latest example of the AI story’s scaffolding.
Where in ETFs Is Micron? Micron is the single largest holding in the Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM), at about 25% weighting — the year’s most successful thematic ETF launch, focused on the high-profile AI-related bottleneck around memory capabilities.
However, that’s just one portfolio offering direct access to this name. There are more than $220 million worth of Micron shares today, spread across over 600 different ETFs.
Many broad-based equity portfolios own it. Some narrowly focused funds capturing semiconductors, or broader AI strategies and tech, own it, as well. Growth ETFs like WisdomTree U.S. Quality Growth Fund (QGRW) invests in Micron, as do momentum ETFs like the Invesco S&P 500 Momentum ETF (SPMO), as well as single-stock plays and funds like DRAM. (Check out our ETF Stock Exposure Tool for a complete list.)
Micron is also a key holding in the NEOS Long/Short Equity Income ETF (NLSI), which generates high monthly income through options on a long/short portfolio of equities led by an allocation to Micron. NLSI’s distribution rate is 5.3%.
But one of the largest allocations to Micron today sits in a fund that may surprise many: the iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF (VLUE). VLUE sets out to own undervalued stocks with high growth potential long-term, and Micron leads its holdings. Similarly, the stock is in the Goldman Sachs Value Opportunities ETF (GVLE). We may be suffering from a little bit of AI-fatigue, but talk about the staying power of this bottleneck, when a stock that’s up more than 800% in one year is still a top value pick!
What’s interesting about bottlenecks is that they aren’t necessarily long-term plays. As Brian Coco, chief product officer and head of VettaFi’s index team, puts it: “When margins explode, capitalism solves for it.”
Bottlenecks are, by design, near-term opportunities for capital growth. How long the opportunities last — until some sort of innovation or disruption brings supply chains back into balance — varies. But they are very powerful, as Micron is showing us. And ETFs across all sorts of strategies and themes can offer unique, direct access to them.
Finally, if you’d like to hear Jeremy Schwartz’ complete view on markets, catch a replay of our Midyear Market Symposium here.
For more news, information, and analysis, visit the Equity ETF Content Hub.
BOISE, Idaho, July 01, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Micron Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: MU) and General Motors announced a Strategic Customer Agreement (SCA) to secure a long-term, reliable supply of memory and storage platforms critical to GM’s vehicle production and delivery at scale. Micron and GM are working together to strengthen semiconductor and automotive supply chains while supporting the next generation of U.S. manufacturing and innovation.
Automotive platforms and production require consistent component supply over extended lifecycles, making predictability and continuity of memory supply a critical priority for the industry. Ensuring consistent access to memory and storage is essential not only for automakers but also for consumers looking for new vehicles with the latest technology and safety standards amid rising global semiconductor demand.
In addition to the committed supply in this agreement, Micron and GM continue to collaborate on future memory and storage technology requirements essential for the next generation of vehicles. This includes deep technology collaboration to align on future product definition, system-level optimization, and the qualification of advanced memory technologies to support GM’s next generation of vehicle architectures and roadmaps.
This agreement is enabled by Micron’s ongoing investments to expand and localize supply for automotive customers, including advanced DRAM manufacturing in Manassas, Virginia. Micron’s $2 billion investment to modernize its Manassas fab, which began production earlier this year, provides the longevity and supply output valuable to long product lifecycles, improved supply predictability, and helps ensure product continuity across the industry.
Enhanced customer experiences through local compute that support AI-enabled in-cabin experiences and advanced driver assistance (ADAS) autonomy are driving the importance for advanced memory and storage in this industry. Through this agreement, GM will secure supply of LPDRAM, NOR and UFS NAND products and with continued collaboration, Micron and GM will validate and qualify future technologies. As vehicles become increasingly software-defined and AI-driven, memory and storage performance, reliability, and scalability are essential to enabling next-generation capabilities.
“We are proud to expand our strategic relationship with General Motors to deliver both long-term supply assurance and technology innovation critical to the future of the automotive industry,” said Sanjay Mehrotra, Chairman, President and CEO of Micron Technology. “As demand for memory and storage continues to grow, we are investing to extend supply availability, expand capacity and align more closely with our customers to improve supply predictability across the automotive ecosystem. Our expanding manufacturing efforts in the United States are designed to enable GM to deliver both near-term products as well as secure U.S.-based supply to support next generation platforms and innovation.”
“Delivering next-generation vehicles at scale requires a resilient and closely aligned supply chain,” said Mary Barra, Chair and CEO of General Motors. “Our expanded collaboration with Micron strengthens our access to critical memory technologies while enabling deeper integration across our vehicle platforms, supporting both performance and long-term reliability. This agreement reinforces the supply chain needed to support future vehicle innovation and production.”
These strategic customer agreements are part of Micron’s broader approach to strengthening supply continuity across the global semiconductor ecosystem. By aligning long-term demand with committed capacity and engineering collaboration, Micron is improving planning visibility, reducing supply variability, and helping ensure that critical industries, including automotive, have reliable access to the memory and storage technologies required to operate and innovate at scale.
Micron’s long-standing leadership in automotive memory and storage, combined with its expanding global manufacturing investments, positions the company as a key partner to leading automakers like GM as the industry transitions to more intelligent, connected, and autonomous vehicles.
This SCA is one of the 16 discussed on Micron’s fiscal third-quarter 2026 financial conference call.
About Micron Technology, Inc.
Micron Technology, Inc. is an industry leader in innovative memory and storage solutions, transforming how the world uses information to enrich life for all. With a relentless focus on our customers, technology leadership and manufacturing and operational excellence, Micron delivers a rich portfolio of high-performance DRAM, NAND and NOR memory and storage products. Every day, the innovations that our people create fuel the data economy, enabling advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and compute-intensive applications that unleash opportunities — from the data center to the intelligent edge and across the client and mobile user experience. To learn more about Micron Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: MU), visit micron.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the anticipated benefits of the Micron-GM collaboration. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Please refer to the documents Micron files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, specifically its most recent Form 10-K and Form 10-Q. These documents contain and identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in these forward-looking statements. These certain factors can be found at https://investors.micron.com/risk-factor. Although Micron believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, Micron cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, or achievements. Micron is under no duty to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this press release to conform these statements to actual results.
If you purchased shares of Micron Technology (MU 6.36%) and Sandisk (SNDK 7.99%) stock at the beginning of the year, you look like an absolute genius right now. The stocks have performed remarkably well, with Micron rising 325%, and Sandisk delivering nearly 900% gains. Most investors see those returns over decades, not months.
But there's a growing question investors must answer: Is there room for more, and if there is, which stock is the better one to buy? Let's take a look at these two and see if the roller-coaster ride is peaking or just getting started.
Image source: Getty Images.
The AI build-out is driving massive growth for these two Both Micron and Sandisk are memory chip makers. Micron operates on both sides of the market, producing both DRAM and NAND memory, while Sandisk is solely on the NAND side.
NAND memory is non-volatile and can hold information even if it loses power, making it great for long-term data storage. It's utilized in devices like solid-state drives (SSDs), and those are in high demand as data centers are built out across the nation.
DRAM memory is tailored for high-speed, rapid recall purposes and gets deployed alongside powerful computing chips. So, whenever you hear about how many more chips are being sold by companies like Advanced Micro Devices or Nvidia, you can immediately assume that Micron is benefiting as well.
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Demand for memory chips has reached unprecedented levels, spurred on by the AI build-out. However, it's unlikely demand will subside anytime soon, as multiple projections indicate that 2026's elevated spending on data is just the start. In fact, Nvidia believes that global data center capital expenditures will rise to $3 trillion to $4 trillion annually by 2030.
That bodes well for the futures of Micron and Sandisk, and even if they can increase production capacity, it doesn't mean that it will be enough to meet demand. As a result, I don't think Micron and Sandisk are in a bubble, and their valuations back that up.
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Sandisk and Micron are each strong picks Both Micron and Sandisk operate on odd fiscal years. Sandisk's ends in June, while Micron's ends in August. As a result, I think looking at next year's fiscal year (FY) projections is a smart idea. Wall Street believes that Micron's growth will be 78% next year, while Sandisk's will total 122%. There's clearly more growth ahead for these two, yet their stocks aren't priced at a premium level.
MU PE Ratio (Forward 1y) data by YCharts
With Micron trading at 8 times forward earnings and Sandisk at 13, there is still plenty of room for upside, as most tech companies trade in the mid-20s forward price-to-earnings ratio. If both of these two can rise to that level over the next year, then Sandisk stock has the potential to double, and Micron can triple. That's explosive returns that any investor would love to see, and even though it's not the same as the growth each stock has delivered so far in 2026, it's still a great return to achieve in just a year.
As a result, I think each of them is a smart buy, but which one takes the cake? Although the upside may be higher for Micron if the above prediction comes true, I'm more of a fan of Sandisk stock because it's only focused on one segment of the memory chip market and is doing quite well in it. Micron has more to worry about, which still doesn't make it a bad investment, but opens it up to more execution errors if it stumbles in one area.
The memory chip crunch is far from over, and investors can still take advantage of these two stocks.
U.S. stocks settled higher on Tuesday, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining around 1.5% during the session.
The S&P 500 climbed 14.9%, while the Nasdaq surged 21.4% in the second quarter, notching its biggest quarterly gains since the second quarter of 2020. The Dow also climbed 12.9%, notching its best quarter since the fourth quarter of 2022.
Wall Street analysts make new stock picks on a daily basis. Unfortunately for investors, not all analysts have particularly impressive track records at predicting market movements. Even when it comes to one single stock, analyst ratings and price targets can vary widely, leaving investors confused about which analyst’s opinion to trust.
Analyst: Asiya Merchant
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SummaryMicron holds over $24 billion in cash and investments, while customers have committed approximately $22 billion, including $18 billion in cash deposits.The DRAM market has consolidated into a three-player oligopoly, with management expecting AI-driven memory supply constraints to persist well beyond 2027.Strategic Customer Agreements already cover roughly half of future sales, improving earnings visibility through multiyear, take-or-pay commitments backed by customer capital.Despite structural improvements and HBM demand exceeding supply into 2028, Micron trades at just 7.7x FY2 and 7x FY3 non-GAAP earnings. vzphotos/iStock Editorial via Getty Images
The most valuable insight from Micron's (MU) latest quarter was not another earnings beat or another increase in AI-related guidance. Those developments were largely expected. So, the latest earnings by Micron have just
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Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have a beneficial long position in the shares of MU either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.
Micron Technology (MU +1.12%) stock has surged more than 800% during the past 12 months on soaring demand for the company's high-bandwidth memory (HBM) for data centers, which has become a key component in the artificial intelligence (AI) hardware stack.
Despite its incredible gains, Micron stock is still technically cheap when valued against its future potential earnings. However, that paints an incomplete picture, especially with some cracks forming in the AI demand landscape. Here's why I won't buy Micron stock for anywhere near its closing price of $1,145 on June 29.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Micron is playing a critical role in the AI boom Graphics processing units (GPUs), such as those Nvidia supplies, are the primary data center chips used for AI training and inference. HBM stores data in a ready state for when GPUs are ready to process it, which speeds up AI workloads. A low memory capacity would cause bottlenecks, as GPUs would have to pause while waiting to receive more information.
Micron recently started shipping its HBM4 chips, which offer 60% more capacity than its previous HBM3E solution, with a 20% improvement in energy efficiency. Nvidia will use this product in its new Vera Rubin GPU systems, which are expected to lead the industry in terms of AI processing power when they ship to customers in the second half of 2026.
But Micron also has a big opportunity in the personal computing and smartphone segments. AI models are gradually becoming more efficient, so many devices can now run them independently of external data centers, as long as they have a sufficiently high memory capacity. This development is driving a surge in demand for Micron's direct random access memory.
Moreover, Micron says the average vehicle with even basic autonomous capabilities requires more than five times the memory capacity of a traditional vehicle. But it gets better, because the company says humanoid robots need a whopping 10 times more memory than the average autonomous vehicle. As AI seeps into the physical world, these industrial segments could become the next major growth areas for Micron.
Micron's revenue and earnings are skyrocketing Micron generated a record $41.4 billion in revenue during its fiscal 2026 third quarter (ended May 28), a staggering 346% increase from the year-ago period. AI-related memory sales were responsible for the majority of that incredible momentum, across all four of the company's revenue categories:
Segment
Q3 Revenue
Revenue Growth (Year Over Year)
Cloud memory
$13.7 billion
307%
Core data center
$11.5 billion
653%
Mobile and client
$11.5 billion
254%
Automotive and embedded
$4.6 billion
311%
Data source: Micron Technology.
The cloud memory business is where Micron reports sales of its HBM for the data center, while the core data center segment is where it accounts for sales of storage solutions. Together, they accounted for the bulk of the company's total revenue, which isn't surprising given most AI workloads are still processed using centralized infrastructure. However, its results in the mobile and automotive businesses also highlight the impact of AI outside the data center.
Since there is currently a severe shortage of memory worldwide, Micron can dictate prices, and that is significantly boosting its profit margins. As a result, the company's earnings exploded by 1,368% to $24.67 per share in the third quarter.
Management's forecast for the current fourth quarter suggests further momentum lies ahead. The company is expected to generate $50 billion in revenue and earnings of $30.73 per share, representing year-over-year increases of 342% and 985%, respectively.
Micron stock is cheap, but there's a catch Based on Micron's trailing-12-month earnings of $44.23 per share, its stock is trading at a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 25.6. That means it's cheaper than the Nasdaq-100 technology index, which has a P/E ratio of 34.1.
According to Wall Street's average forecast (from Yahoo! Finance), Micron's earnings could soar to $148.03 per share in fiscal 2027, placing its stock at a forward P/E ratio of just 7.6. A company growing as fast as Micron would normally command a premium valuation, so why is it so cheap? Simply put, I think many investors feel the memory boom will be relatively short-lived.
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Most memory suppliers are frantically building more manufacturing capacity, which will eventually cause chip prices to crash. When supply eventually catches up to demand, it will be very hard for Micron to increase its earnings from the current level, so its stock might be more expensive today than its forward P/E suggests.
Micron Chief Executive Officer Sanjay Mehrotra doesn't think the memory shortage will ease until around 2028, but that assumes demand remains as robust as it is now -- which brings me to my next point. A recent survey from investment bank UBS Group found that 60% of companies are starting to curb their AI spending by routing tasks to cheaper models, which use less computing power. That isn't good news for chip suppliers.
The survey follows recent comments by Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, who said he was fielding complaints from many of Google's enterprise customers about the rising cost of using AI. In addition, Uber Technologies' chief operating officer recently said AI spending is getting harder to justify, as companies such as Anthropic and even Microsoft implement passive price increases to offset soaring infrastructure costs.
As a result, despite Micron's seemingly attractive valuation, I wouldn't feel comfortable buying it here. Any sign of a slowdown in data center spending during the next few quarters could spark a severe decline in the stock, and I think that is an increasingly likely outcome.
SummaryMicron Technology delivered a record Q3 FY26, with revenue up 346% to $41.26B, driven by explosive AI data center-related demand.Strong operating leverage from volume expansion and higher pricing should support industry-leading margins beyond FY26.AI-driven demand, supply constraints, and architectural shifts in data centers are expected to sustain strong pricing and topline growth through FY27.Strategic customer agreements and aggressive capacity expansion underpin MU’s long-term growth, supported by ongoing product innovation and secular AI tailwinds.At a forward multiple of just about 15.6x, MU stock looks like a solid long-term bet given its market-leading position and robust growth outlook. JHVEPhoto/iStock Editorial via Getty Images
The Thesis Micron Technology, Inc. (MU) is one of the world's leading memory and storage semiconductor companies, providing DRAM, NAND, and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) solutions to support AI workloads. Once viewed as a cyclical memory player, Micron has evolved into
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Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.
Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron are facing a new US class-action lawsuit that puts the memory-chip boom under legal scrutiny.
The case lands at an awkward moment for the industry as AI demand has pushed memory prices sharply higher, data-centre buyers are racing to secure supply, and consumer electronics companies are starting to pass higher costs on to customers.
Now the legal question is whether the world’s three biggest DRAM makers simply followed the same market incentives, or coordinated to squeeze supply and lift prices.
The complaint was filed on June 25 in the US District Court for the Northern District of California.
The case is Garciaguirre et al v Samsung Electronics Co Ltd et al, and it has been assigned to Judge Nathanael M Cousins.
The plaintiffs include 14 consumers and three small businesses involved in PC building and distribution.
They are seeking class-action status, an injunction and treble damages, which means damages could be tripled if the plaintiffs ultimately prove antitrust violations.
The core allegation is simple: Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron allegedly restricted output of conventional DRAM, especially older DDR3 and DDR4 memory, while shifting capacity toward higher-margin high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, used in AI systems.
The plaintiffs argue that the AI pivot became a cover for an artificial shortage in mainstream memory.
Together, the three companies control roughly 90% of the global DRAM market, which is why their production choices matter so much.
The complaint says conventional DRAM prices have risen about 700% over four years.
For readers, this is the legal angle behind a price shock they may already be seeing.
Apple recently raised prices on several MacBook and iPad models, with the MacBook Pro 1TB rising by $300, citing soaring memory and storage costs.
This is not the first time DRAM pricing has attracted antitrust scrutiny.
In the mid-2000s, Samsung and Hynix pleaded guilty in a US Justice Department investigation into DRAM price fixing.
Samsung paid a $300 million criminal fine, while Hynix paid $185 million.
Micron cooperated with the earlier probe and avoided a corporate fine, though one Micron employee later pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice.
That history gives the new lawsuit political and legal weight. But it does not make the current case easy.
A similar class action filed in 2018 against Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron was dismissed in 2020, and the dismissal was upheld by the Ninth Circuit in 2022.
Courts found that the plaintiffs had not shown enough evidence of an actual agreement among the companies.
That distinction matters as in antitrust law, companies can independently make the same business decision if they face the same market conditions.
The legal experts call it parallel conduct.
What plaintiffs usually need to prove is coordination, some form of agreement, communication or shared plan to restrict competition.
The new case tries to clear that hurdle by focusing on the timing of production cuts, the industrywide shift toward HBM, and the sharp rise in conventional DRAM prices.
Micron (MU +1.12%) stock investors will not want to miss these developments.
*Stock prices used were the afternoon prices of June 28, 2026. The video was published on June 30, 2026.
Parkev Tatevosian, CFA has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Micron Technology. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Parkev Tatevosian is an affiliate of The Motley Fool and may be compensated for promoting its services. If you choose to subscribe through his link, he will earn some extra money that supports his channel. His opinions remain his own and are unaffected by The Motley Fool.
Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said Tuesday that memory chipmakers aren't the only ones to blame for the current supply-and-demand imbalance, which has recently led to price hikes for smartphones, computers and other consumer electronics.
Customers who drove a hard bargain in pricing in recent years also contributed to the squeeze, Mehrotra argued, suggesting that left the industry underinvested for the artificial intelligence boom.
"Certain customers drove pricing significantly down in our industry," Mehrotra told Jim Cramer on CNBC's "Mad Money" on Tuesday. "In 2023, our prices came down to one-third of what they were."
The collapse in pricing, Mehrotra said, pushed Micron and other memory suppliers into negative gross margins, leaving much of the industry without the financial flexibility to invest in new manufacturing capacity just as artificial intelligence-driven demand began accelerating. Micron's gross margin fell to negative 7.3% in its fiscal 2023, which ended in August of that year, according to FactSet.
"Companies were losing money. They couldn't afford it," he said. "That really impacted the investment capability of the industry."
Micron continued investing through the downturn, the CEO said. "Of course, those investments were significantly cut back from the year prior." Micron's capital expenditures fell to $7.7 billion in fiscal 2023, down from $12.1 billion in the prior year.
AI-driven demand for memory chips has steadily increased since that 2023 downturn in pricing. The acceleration became more apparent last year, boosting Micron's financial performance. But it has gone to another level in 2026, propelling Micron into one of the stock market's biggest winners. The stock climbed more than 240% in the second quarter and added more than $920 billion in market value, putting Micron's market capitalization at roughly $1.3 trillion.
Mehrotra said that the supply crunch is likely to persist well beyond 2027 because new semiconductor fabrication plants take years to build and next-generation memory has become significantly more complex to manufacture. To help close the gap, Mehrotra said Micron is investing roughly $200 billion in manufacturing and R&D, including new memory fabs in Boise, Idaho and Syracuse, New York. The Boise project is furthest along, the CEO said, with the first chips due out "in the middle of next year" and increasing from there. The Boise site is slated to eventually include two fabs.
The shortage is already being felt beyond the semiconductor industry. Last week, Apple raised prices on several Mac and iPad models after CEO Tim Cook said soaring memory and storage costs had become "unavoidable," underscoring how AI-driven demand is pushing higher component costs into consumer electronics.
Chipmakers not named Nvidia soared in the second quarter as investors widened their artificial intelligence portfolios, with Micron and Intel more than tripling in value and Advanced Micro Devices not far behind.
Those three companies gained about $2 trillion in combined market cap in the period and are now the 10th, 11th and 12th most valuable U.S. tech companies.
While AI chipmaker Nvidia remains the biggest company by market cap and continues to notch massive revenue growth, the stock only gained 15% in the second quarter. Its hyperscaler customers — Amazon, Alphabet, Meta and Microsoft — showed mixed results in the period, with Meta falling by almost 2% for the worst performance in the group, and Alphabet leading the pack by gaining 24%.
"The rotation out of AI hyperscalers into AI enablers has shifted investors' euphoria into semis, driving spectacular rallies," wrote Barclays analyst Anshul Gupta, in a note on Tuesday.
Micron, one of three major computer memory producers, rose over 240% during the quarter, adding roughly $920 billion in market cap. Last week, the company reported that revenue in the latest quarter more than quadrupled due to skyrocketing memory prices from AI chipmakers. Micron's gross margin, the profit left after accounting for the cost of goods sold, jumped to 84.9% in the third quarter from 39% a year earlier.
Intel, the legacy maker of central processing units (CPUs), jumped 216% in the quarter, resulting in an added $480 billion in market cap. Intel is building U.S. chip factories while simultaneously benefiting from renewed demand for CPUs as more AI moves to devices.
AMD, Intel's rival in CPUs, added $615 billion in value after its stock price nearly tripled. AMD also makes graphics processing units, though it's far behind Nvidia in that market.
Analysts previously said market moves during the quarter could represent a "changing of the guard in AI," as investors pile into companies that make semiconductors complimentary to Nvidia's chips, and bet that a massive expansion in capital expenditures for AI data centers will boost a wider range of companies.
Other parts of the AI infrastructure supply chain aside from memory and processors also boomed.
Marvell, which makes networking gear, climbed about 200%. Arm, which supplies technology and designs to other chipmakers, rose 134% in the quarter. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) rose 71% in the period, the fund's best quarterly performance since it started trading in 2000.
Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have a beneficial long position in the shares of MU either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.
Micron Technology (MU, Financials) said it will commit $250 million to support Trump Accounts, a savings initiative aimed at helping children and families build
Micron (MU - Free Report) could be a solid choice for investors given the company's remarkably improving earnings outlook. While the stock has been a strong performer lately, this trend might continue since analysts are still raising their earnings estimates for the company.
The upward trend in estimate revisions for this chipmaker reflects growing optimism of analysts on its earnings prospects, which should get reflected in its stock price. After all, empirical research shows a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock price movements. Our stock rating tool -- the Zacks Rank -- is principally built on this insight.
The five-grade Zacks Rank system, which ranges from a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) to a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive externally-audited track record of outperformance, with Zacks #1 Ranked stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 2008.
Consensus earnings estimates for the next quarter and full year have moved considerably higher for Micron, as there has been strong agreement among the covering analysts in raising estimates.
The chart below shows the evolution of forward 12-month Zacks Consensus EPS estimate:
12 Month EPS
Current-Quarter Estimate RevisionsThe earnings estimate of $31.29 per share for the current quarter represents a change of +932.7% from the number reported a year ago.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Micron has increased 39.94% over the last 30 days, as seven estimates have gone higher compared to no negative revisions.
Current-Year Estimate RevisionsThe company is expected to earn $72.83 per share for the full year, which represents a change of +778.5% from the prior-year number.
There has been an encouraging trend in estimate revisions for the current year as well. Over the past month, 11 estimates have moved up for Micron versus no negative revisions. This has pushed the consensus estimate 22.38% higher.
Favorable Zacks RankThe promising estimate revisions have helped Micron earn a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). The Zacks Rank is a tried-and-tested rating tool that helps investors effectively harness the power of earnings estimate revisions and make the right investment decision.
You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Our research shows that stocks with Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and 2 (Buy) significantly outperform the S&P 500.
Bottom LineInvestors have been betting on Micron because of its solid estimate revisions, as evident from the stock's 10.6% gain over the past four weeks. As its earnings growth prospects might push the stock higher, you may consider adding it to your portfolio right away.
Micron Technology (MU +0.71%) is the big name in tech these days. Its numbers have been out of this world, with both sales and profits rising at exceptionally high rates. Demand is high for its memory and storage products, while supply is limited, creating a terrific scenario for the company to be able to raise prices and for demand to remain robust.
This year, the stock has more than tripled in value, as it's been one of the hottest buys on the market. But could that change? In July, there's another big-name memory stock that could list on a top U.S. exchange, and for investors, it may be a more intriguing option to consider.
Image source: Getty Images.
SK Hynix to list on the Nasdaq as early as July 10 SK Hynix, one of the largest memory chipmakers in the world, plans to issue American depositary receipts on the Nasdaq exchange soon. They could begin trading by July 10 and would likely offer significant competition to Micron. The South Korean company is publicly traded, but by being on the Nasdaq, that would inevitably draw more attention to the tech stock and make it more accessible to the average North American investor.
The company, like Micron, has a valuation of more than $1 trillion. And with a dominant position in the high-bandwidth memory market, where it holds around 60% market share, it may lure many investors away from Micron's stock, making it suddenly less desirable for growth investors.
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Could Micron's stock be in trouble? Anytime a stock that's up around 800% in just the past year, like Micron is, there's going to be some risk of a correction on the horizon. While the company has been doing well and generating strong numbers, it also may not take much for investors to second-guess whether it's still a good buy at significantly elevated levels.
But, at the same time, investors who may have wanted exposure to SK Hynix could have bought the stock by now. While it may have taken a bit more effort to do so, this is not the same as a brand-new stock suddenly becoming available. There may be some investors who pivot to SK Hynix over Micron once it trades on the Nasdaq, but I would be surprised if there were a sudden, massive exodus.
Micron's stock may fall after July 10, but I don't anticipate a steep sell-off. Both stocks are likely to do well due to ongoing supply shortages, but that dependency also makes them both a bit risky to hang on to over the long haul. Growth investors should tread carefully, regardless of which stock they choose to buy.
David Jagielski, CPA has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Micron Technology. The Motley Fool recommends Nasdaq. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Key Takeaways Micron is seen as offering greater AI upside through HBM leadership and stronger earnings growth.MU trades at a lower forward P/E than STX while posting stronger one-year share price gains.Seagate is expanding AI storage with HAMR technology, cloud demand and higher-capacity Mozaic drives. The AI storage boom is transforming nearly every segment of the semiconductor industry. Massive AI models require enormous amounts of data to be stored, accessed and processed at high speed, creating heightened demand for both memory and storage solutions. Among the biggest beneficiaries are Seagate Technology Holdings plc (STX - Free Report) and Micron Technology (MU - Free Report) .
Per a report from Fortune Business Insights, the global AI-driven storage market is estimated to go from $44.94 billion in 2026 to $271.32 billion by 2034 at a CAGR of 25.2%. Growing data volumes, AI adoption in HPC data centers, cloud expansion, enterprise storage upgrades and increasing use of data analytics are fueling the AI-powered storage market. Although both companies operate within the broader storage ecosystem, they serve different parts of the AI infrastructure stack. Seagate dominates HDDs for hyperscale data centers, while Micron is a leader in DRAM and NAND flash memory that power AI servers.
For investors looking to capitalize on AI infrastructure spending, which stock offers greater upside? Let’s delve deeper.
The Case for STX StockAs enterprises retain more training data, images, videos and enterprise information, Seagate benefits from growing storage demand. Seagate is entering a period of structural growth, driven by three factors - sustained AI-led storage demand, its HAMR-based Mozaic technology roadmap for higher-capacity drives and a disciplined build-to-order strategy that supports profitable growth and margin expansion. These growth trends have helped the company deliver results ahead of its financial targets. Backed by sustained cloud infrastructure spending, the company has raised its annual revenue growth target to at least 20% over the next few years, with the expanding infrastructure commitments of hyperscalers supporting long-term demand.
AI is driving an explosion in data creation across generative AI, enterprise analytics, autonomous systems and edge computing, significantly increasing demand for scalable, cost-efficient storage. As AI workloads shift toward inference, data generation and long-term retention needs are rising across cloud and edge environments, boosting demand for Seagate's enterprise storage solutions. STX is well-positioned to capitalize on this trend through its HAMR-based Mozaic platform, which delivers higher-capacity, more cost-efficient drives that improve storage density and scalability.
Seagate's second-generation Mozaic 4+ HAMR platform delivers up to 44TB per drive, more than 30% higher capacity than earlier versions, while improving manufacturing efficiency through advanced laser and photonics technology. With HAMR adoption accelerating and Mozaic 5 targeting up to 50TB by late 2027, Seagate is well-positioned to expand beyond hyperscale customers into enterprise and edge markets, supporting long-term growth and cost efficiencies. Areal-density roadmap is another competitive advantage, enabling hard drives to maintain a lower total cost of ownership than alternative storage technologies. Higher-capacity HAMR drives are increasingly becoming the preferred solution for meeting AI-driven storage demand.
Furthermore, Seagate's capital allocation framework converts earnings growth and cash flow into a stronger balance sheet and greater long-term value for shareholders. Strong free cash flow generation, led by steady demand, operational improvements and disciplined capital spending, is expected to strengthen further through 2026. With capital expenditures projected to remain within its 4–6% of revenue target range as it ramps HAMR technology, Seagate appears well-positioned to sustain its current dividend in the near term.
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Nonetheless, Seagate still faces several risks despite its AI-driven growth opportunities. Demand for HDDs in consumer PCs continues to decline, SSD prices remain under pressure, enterprise IT spending is cyclical and hyperscale cloud customers can periodically delay storage purchases. While AI demand is helping offset these headwinds, Seagate remains partly exposed to traditional storage markets.
The Case for MU StockMicron is benefiting from the rapidly expanding AI-driven memory and storage markets. It recently delivered a strong third-quarter fiscal 2026 performance, highlighted by record cash flow and a continued focus on shareholder returns. The company reported EPS of $25.11 and revenue of $41.46 billion, both comfortably exceeding expectations. Micron expects free cash flow to surpass $30 billion and plans to accelerate share repurchases beginning Dec. 9, while maintaining ample cash for strategic investments and financial flexibility. It also significantly reduced debt over the past year, further strengthening its balance sheet.
Micron maintains a diversified memory portfolio spanning DRAM, NAND and HBM, enabling it to serve a broad range of end markets. The company continues to balance its DRAM and NAND mix while keeping HBM growth aligned with overall DRAM demand. Beyond AI data centers, Micron is expanding across automotive, industrial, aerospace and defense markets. It is also increasing the adoption of low-power DRAM for AI servers and CPUs, while its enterprise SSD business remains strong, generating $5 billion in revenue during the fiscal third quarter.
Micron has strengthened its long-term revenue visibility through 16 strategic customer agreements, including deals with hyperscalers for HBM. These non-cancellable, take-or-pay contracts include volume commitments and more than $22 billion in upfront commitments, including nearly $18 billion in cash deposits. Customer demand continues to exceed supply, particularly for HBM and DRAM, with HBM3E and HBM4 capacity for 2027 already booked and strong demand visibility extending into 2028. Management expects tight market conditions to persist beyond 2027 as the HBM market surpasses $100 billion.
Furthermore, Micron continues to invest in its global manufacturing footprint to meet strong customer demand, with fiscal 2026 capital spending expected to reach roughly $27 billion after government incentives. Capital expenditures are forecasted to stay high in fiscal 2027 as the company expands cleanroom capacity to support long-term growth. Management expects free cash flow to rise significantly in the fiscal fourth quarter. Over time, MU plans to return 100% of its excess cash to shareholders while keeping flexibility to invest in growth opportunities. Its guidance does not include potential impacts from trade or geopolitical developments.
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However, Micron remains vulnerable to the cyclical nature of the memory industry, where periods of oversupply can cause sharp declines in DRAM and NAND prices. The company also faces heavy capital spending needs and strong competition from Samsung and SK hynix. Additionally, if HBM supply eventually catches up with demand, pricing power and margins could come under pressure, potentially affecting future profitability.
Price Performance Trajectory for STX & MUOver the past year, MU has registered gains of 829.3%, outperforming STX and the Zacks Computer-Integrated Systems industry’s growth of 571.1% and 244.7%, respectively.
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Valuation: Discount vs. PremiumThe two companies trade at very different valuation profiles. MU looks more attractive than STX from a valuation standpoint. Going by the price/earnings ratio, MU’s shares currently trade at 10.25X forward earnings, lower than 35.71X for STX.
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How Do Zacks Estimates Compare for MU & STX?The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MU’s earnings for fiscal 2026 has been revised north by 24.3% to $71.74 over the past 60 days.
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The Zacks Consensus Estimate for STX’s earnings for fiscal 2026 has been slightly revised up by 0.3% to $14.14 over the past 60 days.
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STX or MU: Which Stock Has More Upside?Both companies should benefit from the AI revolution, but they occupy different positions within the ecosystem. Seagate is building the storage infrastructure that supports AI data growth, with its HAMR technology, strong cloud demand and dividend making it an attractive choice for conservative, income-focused investors. Micron, meanwhile, is more directly exposed to AI computing. Its leadership in HBM positions it to benefit from surging AI accelerator demand, supporting faster earnings growth as AI infrastructure expands.
For investors seeking the highest upside, Micron appears to have the edge due to its direct exposure to the rapidly expanding HBM market and its stronger earnings growth trajectory. However, Seagate remains an attractive complementary investment, offering a more stable, lower-risk way to benefit from the relentless growth in AI-generated data.
Currently, STX has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), while MU sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). Consequently, in terms of Zacks Rank and valuations, MU seems to deserve a spot in your portfolio at the moment.
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The disconnect suggests Micron’s explosive earnings growth has kept pace with, and perhaps even outstripped, its remarkable share price gains.
Micron’s Earnings Are Growing Even Faster Than Its StockMicron’s AI-fueled rally has been driven by surging demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and other advanced memory products powering AI servers.
That demand is translating into profits at a pace few companies can match.
The company has posted EPS growth of more than 780% over the past year, while analysts expect earnings to grow another 109% over the next 12 months.
Those numbers help explain why Micron’s valuation has remained relatively restrained despite the stock’s enormous run. Instead of investors simply bidding up the shares, rapidly expanding earnings have prevented valuation multiples from stretching to the same extent seen in other AI names.
Nvidia And Broadcom Still Command Richer MultiplesThe comparison becomes more interesting when stacked against two of AI’s biggest winners.
Nvidia, now the world’s most valuable company, trades at roughly 30 times trailing earnings and about 22 times forward earnings.
Broadcom, another major beneficiary of AI infrastructure spending, carries a trailing P/E of around 62 and a forward multiple near 32.
Micron, by comparison, trades at approximately 26 times trailing earnings and just 7.5 times forward earnings.
That doesn’t necessarily make Micron undervalued. Each company has different business models, margins and long-term growth profiles. But it does suggest investors are assigning a more conservative valuation to the memory maker despite its outsized earnings growth.
AI’s Memory Boom May Still Have Room To RunFor years, memory chipmakers were viewed as cyclical businesses, with earnings swinging sharply alongside supply and demand.
The AI boom is beginning to change that narrative.
High-bandwidth memory has become one of the most critical components in AI servers, giving companies like Micron a larger role in the AI infrastructure buildout than many investors anticipated just a few years ago.
That shift is also reflected in stock performance. While Nvidia remains the face of the AI revolution, Micron has quietly delivered one of the strongest returns in the Nasdaq 100 this year.
The bigger surprise may not be the rally itself. It’s that after a gain of more than 300%, Micron still trades at a lower earnings multiple than Nvidia and at less than half Broadcom’s valuation, highlighting how rapidly the company’s fundamentals have strengthened alongside the AI boom.
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SanDisk (NASDAQ:SNDK | SNDK Price Prediction) is the ticker every screen is flashing right now, with the stock up 4,841.8% over the past year on a post-spinoff NAND euphoria trade that has Reddit calling it “the next play”.
The SanDisk Trade Has Nothing Left to Give SanDisk went from $47.25 to $2,335 in twelve months. That is a 26-bagger in a commodity NAND business that just printed a full-year FY2025 net loss of $1.64 billion and only became an independent public company in February 2025. Investors are paying a forward earnings multiple of 30 for a consumer-heavy storage maker whose consumer segment just declined 10% sequentially and whose pricing power depends on the Kioxia relationship.
The crowd has noticed. On June 15, an r/wallstreetbets post titled “Sandisk (SNDK) $1000 ITM” pushed retail sentiment to 85 (Very Bullish) before activity collapsed and sentiment slid back toward neutral within a week. When the only buyers left are options gamblers celebrating in-the-money lottery tickets, the marginal bid is gone.
The Coiled Spring: Micron Technology Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) just reported fiscal Q3 2026 and the numbers are the rebuttal. Revenue hit $41.46 billion versus a $35.25 billion consensus, a beat of 17.6%, with non-GAAP EPS of $25.11 against $20.28 expected. The stock trades at $1,213.56 on a forward multiple of 9. Read that again. Nine.
Three reasons this is the institutional redirect from the meme:
1. Scale and diversification SanDisk cannot match. Micron carries a $1.37 trillion market cap with four segments all growing in Q3 FY26: Cloud Memory at $13.77 billion, Core Data Center at $11.52 billion, Mobile and Client at $11.52 billion, and Automotive and Embedded at $4.63 billion. SanDisk leans on consumer NAND. Micron sells across cloud, data center, mobile, and automotive, and it is the only U.S.-based memory manufacturer.
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2. Profitability is already on the page. Micron has now delivered seven consecutive quarters of EPS beats. Q3 GAAP gross margin landed at 84.6%, up from 37.7% a year earlier. Free cash flow in the quarter was $18.30 billion, a 995% jump year over year. SanDisk is still digging out of a billion-dollar operating loss. Micron is printing cash by the quarter.
3. Earnings durability extends well into 2027. CEO Sanjay Mehrotra stated that “multi-year Strategic Customer Agreements will significantly enhance the durability and predictability of Micron’s strong financial performance.” HBM4 is in high-volume shipments for a lead AI accelerator platform, with HBM4E targeted for volume production in calendar 2027. Q4 guidance calls for revenue of $50.0 billion plus or minus $1.0 billion and non-GAAP EPS of $31.00. The board approved a 30% dividend increase earlier in the fiscal year, the quarterly payout sits at $0.15, and management has returned $650 million in buybacks through the first nine months of FY26.
Prediction markets reinforce the contrast. Polymarket gives MU a 95% probability of closing above $980 by the end of June, the floor support of a stock backed by real earnings rather than spinoff hopium.
The Action Micron belongs at the top of the research list before the next leg of the AI memory cycle prices in what the income statement already shows.
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Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU | MU Price Prediction) has delivered one of the most extraordinary first halves in semiconductor history, with shares up 301.46% year to date through June 29, 2026. After a run like that, the question is whether anything is left in the tank.
My 24/7 Wall St. price target for Micron is $1,013.82, implying -11.48% downside from $1,145.28. Combined with extreme stretch from the 200-day moving average of $425.84, an insider base that is net selling across 96 recent transactions, and a bear scenario pointing to $737.55, the prudent call is sell.
Metric Value Current Price $1,145.28 24/7 Wall St. Price Target $1,013.82 Upside/Downside -11.48% Recommendation SELL Confidence Level 90% Why We Could Be Wrong Micron is one of the most divisive names, and real upside could come from sustained HBM4 pricing power or another guidance bombshell like the $50B revenue, $31 EPS Q4 guide. Thirty-nine of 44 covering analysts rate it Buy or Strong Buy, with a consensus target of $1,410.45. Treat my target as one datapoint.
A 4x Half Year, Then a Cooling Stock Shares ran from roughly $285.28 on December 31, 2025 to $1,145.28, fueled by Q3 FY26 revenue of $41.46B, up 345.72% year over year, and non-GAAP EPS of $25.11 versus the $20.28 consensus. That is the seventh consecutive beat.
Yet the stock is down 5.46% over the past week, sitting 12% below the 52-week high of $1,255. Polymarket traders give Micron only a 46.5% chance of closing higher today.
The Case for $1,400+ Bulls argue this cycle is structural. CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said the quarter “reflect[s] the strategic value of memory in the AI era”, and Micron has signed its first five-year Strategic Customer Agreement.
Gross margin expanded from 37.7% to 84.6% in a year, HBM4 is in volume for NVIDIA Vera Rubin, and management says supply stays tight “beyond calendar 2026”. Analyst consensus of $1,410.45 implies the bull case clears my target by a wide margin, and the model’s bull scenario reaches $1,338.83.
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What Could Go Wrong Memory is cyclical. The model’s bear case hits $737.55, a 35.6% drawdown. Reddit’s most-upvoted bearish thread warns “hyperscalers are implementing techniques that could compress memory usage by up to 40x”.
Capex is exploding, with FY26 spend above $25B and FY27 construction capex stepping up another $10B. A $325M loss on debt prepayments hit Q3, and insiders are net sellers. Bulls counter that capex funds the HBM capacity driving 80%+ margins, so heavy spend underwrites the growth thesis.
Micron Price Prediction 2026-2030 My 24/7 Wall St. price target sits at $1,013.82, my recommendation is sell, and my confidence is 90%. The factor tipping the scale is asymmetry: bull-case upside of roughly 17% versus a credible bear case near 36% downside on a beta-2 name after a 4x run. The setup would look more attractive if Micron pulls back toward $1,000 with HBM4E commitments intact.
Here is where our model projects Micron could trade, assuming current trajectories and a normalizing memory cycle hold.
Year 24/7 Wall St. Price Target 2026 $1,013.82 2027 $1,055 2028 $1,090 2029 $1,045 2030 $996.80 These projections assume Micron continues executing on HBM4E for calendar 2027 volume and memory pricing normalizes off current peaks. Significant upside could come from extended AI capex, while a hyperscaler-led efficiency shock remains the most credible downside catalyst.
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The big question and risk around Micron Technology (MU 0.21%) stock is when the memory shortage might end. If it's soon, and more supply will become available in the near future, that might restrict the company's ability to further limit prices, and thus, lead to slowing growth. But if it's destined to last for a long time, then that would obviously be welcome news to investors.
The tech company's CEO recently explained when he expects more supply to become available. And while it may not be all that far away, the shortages may still persist for the foreseeable future.
Image source: Getty Images.
Micron's management expects a "gradual" improvement in 2028 On a recent call with analysts, Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra outlined the current situation in the memory and storage market. And while Mehrotra believes more supply will be coming, it's unlikely to be enough to end the shortages anytime soon.
"Our customers are recognizing that supply shortages in memory and storage will take considerable time to improve, even as we expect industry supply to improve gradually in 2028."
One key customer that's announced it will have to raise prices is Apple, which made it clear it was doing so due to an untenable situation driven by higher costs. That's also a sign that the shortages aren't ending anytime soon; if Apple thought that were a possibility, it might be compelled to simply wait it out, but that isn't the case. And although there may be some additional supply coming in 2028, the demand remains robust, which is why the shortages may persist well beyond then.
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Is Micron's stock a buy on this news? Shares of Micron have been rising rapidly due to the company's strong results and expectations of even greater growth ahead. And there could be further gains ahead for Micron's stock, given the industry's current outlook. The danger, however, is that in tech, things can change quickly. And if the market turns and demand tapers off, perhaps due to slowing economic conditions or concerns about whether investments in artificial intelligence are truly paying off, investors could quickly head for the exits and sell the stock.
While Micron's stock has been surging, it's not the type of investment that you can safely buy and forget about. There may be significant volatility ahead, and unless you're willing to constantly monitor the tech company and industry conditions, you may be better off steering clear of it.
David Jagielski, CPA 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.
Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have a beneficial long position in the shares of MU either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.
WASHINGTON, June 30, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In honor of America’s 250th anniversary, Micron Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: MU) today announced a $250 million investment to increase long-term savings opportunities for children and families through Trump Accounts (also known as 530A Accounts).
As part of this initiative, the company is launching an employee matching benefit for contributions up to $1,000 per child under 18. Additionally, Micron will provide a community benefit of a one-time $250 seed deposit for children with Trump Accounts where Micron operates in Idaho, New York, Virginia, California, Colorado, Minnesota and Texas.
Micron’s investment is the largest corporate commitment of its kind and is expected to support up to one million children. Most of the funding will benefit children and families in communities where Micron operates, expanding long-term financial opportunities for the next generation.
The program complements Micron’s previously announced investment of over $200 billion in U.S. memory manufacturing and R&D, creating over 90,000 U.S. jobs. Together, these investments reflect Micron’s sustained commitment to strengthening the nation’s semiconductor ecosystem and the workforce that supports it.
“At Micron, we believe investing in people is as important as investing in technology,” said Sanjay Mehrotra, Micron Chairman, President and CEO. “As America celebrates its 250th anniversary, this investment is about helping children build a strong foundation for future opportunity while supporting the workforce and communities that will shape U.S. semiconductor leadership. We appreciate President Trump and Secretary Bessent for establishing these accounts, which give Micron another meaningful way to support children and families as they plan for the future.”
“Trump Accounts are a transformative policy initiative that will help unlock the American Dream for millions of children. It is encouraging to see our nation's leading companies, including Micron, supporting this effort by stepping up to help children in the communities and offering matching contributions for their employees,” said U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. “Thanks to President Trump's leadership, momentum continues to build as more companies and institutions participate, helping the next generation of Americans become shareholders in the world's most vibrant capital markets.”
“I applaud Micron for this powerful commitment to Trump Accounts,” said Michael Dell, Chairman and CEO, Dell Technologies. “Micron and Dell have long enjoyed a strong business partnership, and through this initiative, we are also coming together to support children, create long-term economic opportunity and invest in America’s future.”
“Micron’s massive investment in their people and communities reflects their tremendous values and love of country and will serve as a blueprint for companies all over America,” said Brad Gerstner, Founder and Chairman of Invest America. “This is not an abstract investment — these are meaningful dollars directly into the private Trump Accounts of nearly one million kids. Trump Accounts have unlocked a transformative new type of corporate philanthropy that reconnects every child to the American Dream by making them a direct shareholder in our great American companies. We hope every company, small, medium and large, will follow their lead at any level of support.”
In addition to this initiative, Micron is investing hundreds of millions of dollars across the U.S to expand access to semiconductor careers through K-12 STEM education, semiconductor curriculum development, AI education, community college and university partnerships, registered apprenticeships and other workforce programs.
Trump Accounts are invested in eligible low-fee U.S. index funds, providing broad market exposure and the long-term benefits of compounding. Families can learn more and open an account at https://trumpaccounts.gov/. More information about how residents of eligible counties can qualify for Micron’s seed funding will be available at https://micron.com/communityinvestment.
About Micron Technology, Inc.
Micron Technology, Inc. is an industry leader in innovative memory and storage solutions, transforming how the world uses information to enrich life for all. With a relentless focus on our customers, technology leadership and manufacturing and operational excellence, Micron delivers a rich portfolio of high-performance DRAM, NAND and NOR memory and storage products. Every day, the innovations that our people create fuel the data economy, enabling advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and compute-intensive applications that unleash opportunities — from the data center to the intelligent edge and across the client and mobile user experience. To learn more about Micron Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: MU), visit micron.com.
CANADA - 2026/06/29: In this photo illustration, the Micron Technology logo is seen displayed on a smartphone screen. (Photo Illustration by Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
This article was written by Doug Nathman, with research by his team at Trefis.
Micron (MU) has just announced impressive Q3 earnings. Revenue skyrocketed 4x compared to the previous year, earnings per share surged 15x, and gross margins reached an astounding 84.6%. The reasons are clear: an unparalleled AI expansion has sparked unprecedented demand and pricing for high-bandwidth memory, which is utilized alongside AI accelerators from companies like Nvidia (NVDA) and AMD (AMD), with the supply shortage affecting the broader memory market as well.
Currently, the three leading suppliers are investing enormous capital to develop new capacity, and they are doing so concurrently.
Does this sound familiar?
It should. This is precisely the way every DRAM downturn has commenced. There is always a narrative presented for why this instance is different. Historically, the outcome has invariably been the same. The latest narrative suggests that long-term client contracts will stabilize the memory sector’s boom-and-bust cycle. However, critical questions are worth exploring.
The Cycle ExplainedFor many years, DRAM has adhered to an unyieldingly predictable pattern. Demand spikes. Suppliers rush to expand. New fabs begin operations at the same time. Supply inundates the market, prices plummet, margins decline significantly, and the industry endures years of losses until demand picks up again.
Now, consider the figures. Samsung is allocating approximately $73 billion to capital expenditures and R&D this year. SK Hynix is sourcing around $29 billion through a U.S. public offering to support new fabs and equipment. Micron has elevated its fiscal 2026 capex forecast to $27 billion and anticipates even greater annual capital expenditure in fiscal 2027. Collectively, these three memory manufacturers are investing around $130 billion in a single year.
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Past cycle peaks have seen the industry invest a total of $30 to $40 billion in a strong year. This amount is three to four times greater.
These are greenfield fabrication projects—multi-year construction initiatives that take significant time to yield wafer output and cannot be reversed once initiated. The capital is being secured now, in anticipation of demand forecasts that extend years ahead.
The Contracts Are Valid But So Are The ConcernsThe bullish perspective relies on something novel: multi-year take-or-pay agreements that obligate customers to purchase specified volumes regardless of spot prices. Micron has established 16 such contracts, 14 of which account for approximately $100 billion in guaranteed revenue.
Once all intended agreements are finalized, the company projects that over half of its revenue will be governed by these contracts, with approximately 40% covered by fixed or capped pricing. Concerning contracts with pricing bands, Micron asserts that the minimum prices would uphold gross margins higher than any previous cycle.
Nonetheless, it does not eradicate risk; it redistributes it.
Approximately half of Micron’s revenue would still fall outside these agreements. More critically, if AI infrastructure expenditures eventually disappoint, or if newer AI models require less memory than anticipated, clients might find themselves obligated to acquire capacity they no longer require. Implementing enterprise AI is proving to be more complex than many envisioned, with issues related to workflow integration, governance, and organizational acceptance still acting as significant obstacles. If companies struggle to yield considerable returns on AI investments, the speed of future AI infrastructure spending may decelerate, challenging the assumptions that the current demand will persist for years.
When Certainty Becomes The HazardWhen every supplier, every consumer, and every analyst aligns on the same narrative - restricted supply extending beyond 2027 and AI demand that is fundamental and limitless - such consensus can become a cautionary flag. If reality falls even slightly short of the optimistic scenario, the adjustment can be abrupt because no one has prepared for a downturn.
You might consider: Micron is trading at merely 8x projected FY2027 earnings. Micron’s valuation multiples versus competitors is more affordable. If the company achieved that income consistently each year, investors would, in theory, recover their investment in about eight years. However, there’s a caveat. Those projections presume an exceedingly high $148 per share in consensus earnings for FY’27, compared to just $8 last year. The crucial inquiry is not whether 8x is economically feasible, but whether earnings at that level can be maintained.
The solution to tight supply has always been the investments spurred by that tight supply. No supplier can afford to miss out on this expansion without jeopardizing market share. Ironically, that competitive nature has prompted past memory cycles. The DRAM cycle has been proclaimed dead before. The contracts are fresh. HBM is distinctly different. Yet neither shifts the fundamental economics of supply eventually balancing out with demand. The crucial questions are the ones that are currently being overlooked.
A methodical portfolio strategy aids in mitigating these risks while still engaging in long-term growth narratives. The Trefis High Quality (HQ) Portfolio has consistently surpassed its market benchmark since its inception, delivering cumulative returns exceeding 105%.
Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) stock traded flat in Tuesday’s premarket session as investors paused following the stock’s extended rally. The stock remains in a strong long-term uptrend.
Nasdaq futures were up less than 0.5%, while S&P 500 futures gained 0.09%.
AI Demand Keeps Micron In FocusMicron remained in focus as investors assessed the long-term outlook for AI memory demand, Chinese competition and valuation.
Chinese memory suppliers do not appear to pose an immediate threat to Micron, even as Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is reportedly seeking access to Chinese DRAM suppliers.
According to a CNBC report Tuesday, Chinese memory maker CXMT said in its IPO prospectus that its production capacity remains well below domestic demand, limiting its ability to supply Apple or materially reduce memory costs.
Instead, Micron’s growth story continues to center on high-bandwidth memory (HBM) used in NVIDIA Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) AI systems and the broader buildout of AI infrastructure.
The company has also benefited from stronger pricing, with gross margins recovering to more than 80% after posting losses on memory chips three years ago.
Analysts have also pointed to long-term supply agreements that could account for about half of Micron’s revenue by 2030 at pricing floors above previous cycle peaks.
Luria said that disconnect creates a significant valuation gap. He added that Micron could be worth roughly four times more if AI spending remains strong through the end of the decade.
He also noted that the stock trades at about eight to nine times earnings, well below the 40 to 50 times multiples assigned to many CPU-related companies, despite memory becoming increasingly important and facing less competitive pressure.
Micron Technical AnalysisMicron remains above all of its major moving averages, underscoring the strength of its longer-term trend. However, momentum has begun to cool.
The stock is trading about 9.8% above its 20-day simple moving average of $1,044.12 and roughly 166% above its 200-day moving average of $430.86. Such a wide gap can leave shares vulnerable to short-term pullbacks even if the broader trend remains intact.
The moving average convergence divergence (MACD) indicator has slipped below its signal line, while the histogram has turned negative. That suggests bullish momentum is fading, although the stock has not yet broken its overall uptrend.
The moving-average setup remains constructive, with the 20-day average above the 50-day average and the 50-day average above the 200-day average. Traders will likely watch whether Micron can hold support near the 20-day moving average or whether a deeper pullback develops.
The key upside level remains the 52-week high of $1,255. Support sits near the 20-day moving average at $1,044.12, while April’s swing low remains the next major reference point if selling pressure accelerates.
Micron Analyst OutlookThe stock carries a consensus Buy rating with an average price forecast of $1,542.05. Recent analyst actions include:
Cantor Fitzgerald raised its price forecast to $2,000 on June 29 while maintaining an Overweight rating. Cantor Fitzgerald maintained its Overweight rating and $1,500 price forecast on June 25. Barclays raised its price forecast to $2,000 on June 25 while reiterating an Overweight rating. Benzinga Edge RankingsMicron scores highly on Benzinga Edge’s Momentum, Quality and Growth metrics, reflecting its strong price trend and earnings outlook. However, its Value score remains weak, indicating the stock trades at a premium relative to many peers.
The combination suggests investors continue to favor Micron’s long-term growth story, though elevated valuations could make the shares more sensitive to any slowdown in earnings or demand.
ETF ExposureBecause of its sizable weighting in these funds, large ETF inflows or outflows can amplify buying or selling activity in Micron shares.
MU Stock Price Activity: Micron Technology shares were down 0.11% at $1144.00 during premarket trading on Tuesday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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Micron Technology (MU +0.90%) just released its earnings report, and the memory chip giant delivered blowout numbers driven by the insatiable demand for its high-bandwidth memory (HBM).
Conversely, rising memory costs have affected other tech stocks, and to that end, Apple stock dropped after announcing price increases on MacBooks and iPads due to rising memory costs.
That move raises questions about rising costs for other AI stocks. More specifically, investors should ask whether that undermines the investment theses driving these stocks.
Image source: Getty Images.
Micron's market power Micron stock has become the AI stock to watch in recent weeks. AI applications depend heavily on HBM, and only three companies worldwide manufacture it, with Micron the only one based in the U.S.
Thanks to this demand, Micron generated more than $41 billion in revenue in the third quarter of fiscal 2026 (ended May 28). This was far above the $9.3 billion in revenue reported in the year-ago quarter.
Moreover, Micron forecast that bit shipments would grow in the low- to mid-20s percentage range. This implies that nearly all of the revenue increase came from price increases.
Additionally, one must assume that other companies will raise prices due to rising memory prices. This is likely to increase costs and squeeze margins for many AI companies, potentially slowing growth and boding poorly for their stock performance.
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Adding some perspective Investors should remember that these are short-term increases and that investing is typically a long-term journey. Long-time followers know that memory is one of the more cyclical parts of the semiconductor industry. Thus, they have seen Micron's revenue and income grow in times of high demand.
Still, once supply catches up to demand, companies like Micron will likely have to cut prices. This will probably lead to revenue declines, which will either reduce net income or even return the company to losses.
Furthermore, some investors may dismiss that trend because Micron eliminated its biggest risk by requiring customers to sign five-year contracts instead of the previous one-year agreements. Admittedly, that could force companies to pay higher prices for longer.
Nonetheless, such agreements do not impact the secondary memory market. Even if Micron and its competitors refuse to cut prices, AI companies should be able to buy HBM more cheaply as the supply shortage ends.
AI stocks and high memory prices Given how the memory market has operated over time, investors should look for buying opportunities in AI hardware stocks if rising memory costs prompt selling. Indeed, high memory costs should concern companies that need AI hardware, and they will likely face higher costs for now as they pay premium prices for these sought-after memory chips.
Fortunately for Micron's customers, memory prices are cyclical, and as supply begins to meet or exceed demand, prices will likely fall, even with long-term contracts in place.
Thus, investors should treat rising memory prices as a temporary headwind or maybe a buying opportunity, but it is not a reason to give up on AI hardware stocks in the long term.
Micron (MU) remains a beneficiary of sustained AI-driven memory demand, though valuation is less compelling after a significant run-up. Current memory shortages are expected to persist, with hyperscalers and AI adoption driving robust demand and long-term contracts reducing near-term risk. MU trades at 12x–14x 2030 EPS estimates, with buybacks prioritized to return capital; cyclical risks and innovation-driven disruption remain key considerations.
Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.
It's fair to say that investors were skeptical heading into Micron's (MU +0.90%) latest earnings report. The stock had already gained more than 700% over the previous year, and had posted several blowout earnings reports in a row. In fact, on the day of Micron's latest earnings report, the stock was down significantly during the trading day before the afternoon announcement.
However, it's fair to say that Micron knocked it out of the park. Again. The stock soared to a new all-time high, and even after a brief pullback, it now has a market capitalization of nearly $1.3 trillion. This is from a memory company that was largely considered a boring, commoditized business just a couple of years ago.
Even with the incredible performance, Micron could still have plenty of upside ahead. In fact, most analysts who follow the stock think that's exactly what will happen. Here's a rundown of where Micron's business stands today, and where Wall Street sees it heading in the future.
Image source: Getty Images.
Micron's latest earnings were stellar It's difficult to overstate how strong Micron's latest numbers are. In its fiscal third quarter, the memory giant reported $41.46 billion in revenue, nearly 350% more than the same quarter last year, and up a stunning 74% sequentially. On the bottom line, the company reported $25.11 in earnings per share -- nearly $5 more than analysts had expected. As you probably expect, data center revenue has been the key driver, and is now at a run rate of more than $100 billion annualized.
Micron isn't done yet. In the current quarter, Micron is expecting $50 billion in revenue and $31 in EPS, representing sequential growth of 21% and 23%, respectively.
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Perhaps most significantly, Micron announced that it is pivoting to strategic customer agreements (SCAs), which essentially commit customers to billions in future purchases. The company reported 16 of these along with its results, most of which have five-year terms running through the 2030 calendar year. The company reported cash deposits and related commitments of $22 billion from this initial wave of agreements, and 14 of the 16 agreements have a cumulative revenue potential of about $100 billion over their five-year terms.
This shift provides a win-win situation: supply visibility for Micron's customers, and much-needed revenue visibility beyond the next few years for Micron as it spends aggressively to increase capacity.
Analysts see even more upside ahead Within a few days of Micron's earnings report, the stock received about two dozen analyst upgrades or new ratings, and no significant downgrades. Not only is Micron essentially sold out of its core products through 2027 at a minimum, but it now has long-term customer agreements that should keep revenue and cash flow growing for the next several years.
Is Micron stock still a smart buy now, even after the incredible ascent of its stock price? The average estimate calls for about $98 in earnings per share in the 2027 fiscal year, implying that Micron is trading at about 11 times forward earnings as of this writing. And this is for a company with sequential earnings and revenue growth rates exceeding 20%.
The billion-dollar question is whether this will be sustained. It isn't just that Micron is selling a lot of memory right now. It certainly is, but its capacity constraints have led to incredible pricing power. But as Micron's capacity increases or AI infrastructure spending cools off, what happens then? That's the risk you're taking by investing at these levels. If you decide to invest, approach your position size with that in mind.
Micron (NASDAQ: MU) has been one of the most successful artificial intelligence (AI) companies this year, and $1,000 investment in Micron stock at the start of 2026 would have yielded exceptional profits.
Namely, on January 2, 2026, the first trading session of the year, Micron shares were trading at $315. By press time, June 30, 2026, the stock had surged to $1,145, marking a more or less 263% gain during a period of six months.
As a result, a $1,000 Micron investment at the start of 2026, which would have allowed you to purchase just about three shares, would be worth approximately $3,635 today, netting you $2,635 in profits.
MU stock price year-to-date. Source: Google Micron stock continues to rally Micron’s extraordinary performance has been fueled by surging demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and advanced DRAM chips. As hyperscalers and developers continue investing heavily in data centers, Micron has emerged as one of the sector’s biggest winners, with its HBM chips becoming essential to the AI infrastructure.
The company has also strengthened its revenue outlook by securing long-term supply agreements, with management confirming that its entire HBM production capacity for 2026 has already been sold. At the same time, the rollout of next-generation HBM4 memory has further reinforced the company’s position as a key supplier.
Financial results have provided another major tailwind for the stock. Notably, in its fiscal third quarter ended May 28, 2026, Micron reported revenue of $41.46 billion, 84.6% higher than the previous one.
Of course, the rapid ascent has also increased volatility, with some investors worrying that Micron could face a sharp pullback if the semiconductor memory market enters another downcycle. Still, analysts such as C.J. Muse from Cantor Fitzgerald, whose Micron stock price target now sits at $2,000, argue that Micron’s business model has given it a lot more room to run.
Should Muse’s bullish predictions come true, our hypothetical $1,000 investment in Micron at the start of 2026 will be worth about $6,340 within the next twelve months.
Memory chipmakers Micron Technology (MU +0.90%) and Sandisk (SNDK 1.93%) have been big winners from the artificial intelligence infrastructure boom. In the last three months alone, Micron shares have added 203%, and Sandisk shares have added 217%.
Today, most Wall Street analysts think Micron remains undervalued, but the consensus says Sandisk is too expensive. The target prices below come from The Wall Street Journal.
Micron's median target price of $1,585 per share implies 46% upside from the current share price of $1,085. Sandisk's median target price of $1,750 per share implies 12% downside from its current share price of $1,980 per share. Unfortunately, history offers a much less optimistic perspective. Memory chipmakers have traditionally been prone to boom-and-bust cycles. Assuming the trend is still intact, we are moving toward the next collapse, and it could drag shares of Micron and Sandisk much lower. Here are the important details.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Memory chipmakers are benefiting from an unprecedented supply shortage driven by demand for AI Central processing units (CPUs) and graphics processing units (GPUs) are essential parts of the artificial intelligence hardware stack. CPUs are the brains that run applications, and GPUs speed up complex tasks by offloading repetitive mathematical calculations. Both types of chips require memory.
Meera Pandit, global market strategist at JPMorgan Chase, explains:
"CPUs store information in NAND, or long-term memory, and use dynamic random access memory (DRAM), or working memory, to perform tasks. For example, HBM, or high bandwidth memory, is a special kind of DRAM used to feed GPUs data fast enough to keep them busy."
Today, memory chip manufacturers cannot keep pace with the unprecedented demand as hyperscalers rush to build AI infrastructure. The supply shortage is so severe that NAND and DRAM prices have increased 200% and 300%, respectively, in the past year. That has led to tremendous financial results for Micron and Sandisk.
Micron is the third-largest supplier of DRAM and NAND memory. In the May quarter, sales increased 345%and non-GAAP net income increased by more than 1,200%. Guidance for the current quarter implies sales will increase 340% and adjusted net income will increase by more than 900%. Sandisk is the fifth-largest supplier of NAND memory. In the March quarter, sales increased 251%, and non-GAAP net income was $23.41 per diluted share, up from a loss of $0.31 per diluted share in the prior year. Guidance for the current quarter implies sales will increase 320% and adjusted net income will increase by more than 10,700%. Those strong financial results explain why both stocks have performed so well lately. But the memory chip market has historically been defined by boom-and-bust cycles. Assuming that trend is still intact, shares of Micron and Sandisk could crash at some point in the future.
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History says Micron and Sandisk will drop sharply when the current memory chip supply shortage is resolved Many semiconductor companies exhibit some degree of cyclicality, meaning sales rise and fall as demand expands and contracts. But memory chips have historically been the most cyclical category in the broader semiconductor industry.
That's because most NAND and DRAM chips are interchangeable commodities, so suppliers compete mostly on price. Memory chips are also very expensive to produce, so suppliers modify output to match demand. Those forces create a back-and-forth where periods of limited supply (and price hikes) are followed by periods of excess supply (and price cuts).
The last boom-and-bust cycle played out during the COVID-19 pandemic. Demand for personal computers, tablets, and video game consoles spiked as remote work and social distancing became commonplace. Initially, limited memory chip supplies led to higher prices, but manufacturers eventually overcorrected, and prices fell as consumer behavior normalized in 2022 and 2023.
What happened to memory chip stocks? Sandisk was a subsidiary of Western Digital until early 2025, so no company-specific information is available. But shares of Western Digital and Micron dropped 60% and 50%, respectively, from their 2022 levels. Both memory chip companies reported negative earnings in 2023. And neither stock achieved a new high until 2024.
This time around, Wall Street expects memory chip sales to peak in 2028. After that, Micron's adjusted earnings are projected to decline 27% in fiscal 2029 (ends in August), and Sandisk's adjusted earnings are projected to decline 54% in fiscal 2029 (ends in June).
Today, Micron trades at 24 times earnings, while Sandisk trades at 67 times earnings. Both multiples seem reasonable when compared to the companies' reported earnings growth. But investors need to account for a potential decrease in earnings in the next few years. In that context, both stocks could drop sharply when the current memory chip cycle passes its peak.
Micron (MU +0.90%) stock soared after it delivered fantastic results.
*Stock prices used were the afternoon prices of June 26, 2026. The video was published on June 28, 2026.
Parkev Tatevosian, CFA has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Micron Technology. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Parkev Tatevosian is an affiliate of The Motley Fool and may be compensated for promoting its services. If you choose to subscribe through his link, he will earn some extra money that supports his channel. His opinions remain his own and are unaffected by The Motley Fool.
On June 25, Apple (AAPL 0.76%) raised prices on many of its products. For example, the cheapest iPad jumped to $449 from $349 and the entry MacBook rose $100. And the Apple TV, the HomePod, and the Vision Pro got more expensive, too. And the company didn't point to tariffs or a product redesign for the price hike. It blamed memory.
Apple said in a statement to media last week that it has "never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly," pointing to artificial intelligence (AI) data centers that have "created an extraordinary surge in demand for memory and storage" -- the chips inside nearly every device it sells.
But who's actually benefiting the most here? Not Apple. The biggest beneficiary is found further up the supply chain, where the companies are actually making what's in short supply. And in memory, the largest American maker of those chips is Micron Technology (MU +0.90%).
Image source: Getty Images.
Here's what is behind Apple's price increase Memory is dominated by three big companies, which leaves its pricing unusually sensitive to the balance of supply and demand. When demand runs well ahead of what those companies can produce, prices don't just drift higher -- they can spike.
That's what is happening now. The research firm TrendForce estimates that contract prices for conventional DRAM (dynamic random-access memory), the working memory inside phones and computers, jumped about 90% early in 2026, with another sharp increase expected the following quarter. NAND flash memory, used for storage, is expected to rise 70% to 75% in the same quarter.
The cause is AI. Data centers buy enormous quantities of memory to train and run AI models, and they can afford to pay up for it. That demand pulls supply away from consumer devices, leaving less for laptops, tablets, and phones -- and lifting the price of what's left. Apple's increases are simply that shortage reaching the end user.
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Where the money lands Now look at what the same shortage did to Micron's bottom line.
In its fiscal third quarter of 2026 (the period ended May 28, 2026), Micron's revenue climbed to $41.46 billion, from $9.30 billion in the same quarter a year earlier. The surge was led by data center demand.
But the figure that captures the windfall is profit. Micron's net income reached $28.24 billion for the quarter -- up from $1.89 billion a year earlier. That is nearly 15 times as much profit, earned selling the very chips whose scarcity is now raising Apple's prices.
The reason the gain is so lopsided is the math of a shortage. Micron's cost to make a chip changes little when the price of that chip doubles, so most of the increase falls straight to profit. Its adjusted gross margin -- the share of revenue left after production costs -- reached a record 84.9%, more than double Micron's year-ago non-GAAP margin. And management guided for revenue of around $50 billion and an even higher margin in the current quarter.
"Micron's record fiscal Q3 financial results and even stronger outlook for Q4 reflect the strategic value of memory in the AI era," said CEO Sanjay Mehrotra in the company's earnings release.
The windfall has made Micron one of the AI boom's biggest winners -- at about $1,145 a share, the memory maker now carries a market value of around $1.3 trillion.
But memory has always been cyclical, and investors haven't forgotten. At that price, Micron trades at a price-to-earnings ratio of about 26 -- yet only about 7 times the earnings the market expects over the next year. That low forward multiple signals the market doesn't expect today's record profits to last. When supply catches up, prices and margins can fall sharply.
So Apple's price increase and Micron's record quarter trace back to the same shortage. The consumer pays more at the register, and for now, the supplier collects it. Whether Micron stock rewards investors from here depends less on the size of today's windfall than on how long the shortage that produced it lasts.
A recent This Week in Tech (TWiT) episode titled “Flock of SQLs,” explored an unintended consequence of the AI boom that feels meaningful for semiconductor and consumer hardware stocks. A global RAM shortage driven by AI data center demand is forcing device makers to raise prices. The three dominant memory suppliers, SK Hynix, Micron, and Samsung, have little incentive to relieve the squeeze, and meaningful relief may not arrive until 2028. The panel pinned the trouble on hyperscalers’ demand for DRAM and high-bandwidth memory for AI training and inference, and their ability to outspend PC and console OEMs.
Why Consumer Electronics Are Getting More Expensive Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL | AAPL Price Prediction) recently raised its prices by as much as $200 across its lineup. Daniel Rubino characterized this as Apple’s second price hike, with the first coming in March. Jennifer Pattison Tuohy flagged price increases on older devices like the Apple TV and HomePods. The panel said the Apple iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods appear exempt for now, likely because Apple secured supply in advance, though panelists still expect expensive new iPhones in September.
On the Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) side, the panel cited the Xbox climbing from $499 toward $799, a hardware reset for Microsoft attributed to memory cost pressure. Valve, makers of the Steam Machine, reportedly told the panel that RAM suppliers gave them a quoted price “or they wouldn’t talk to us again.” Leo Laporte separately suggested, as his own speculation, that Apple may be lobbying the federal government to lift restrictions on a Chinese chipmaker as part of an effort to find more supply.
Why the Memory Shortage Could Last for Years Dan Patterson described a textbook supply squeeze on the episode. The three dominant memory suppliers, SK Hynix, Micron, and Samsung, are locking buyers into multi-year deals, with Micron pushing 16 companies into five-year contracts. New fabs cost upward of $10 billion and take five-plus years to build, so the incumbents have no commercial reason to flood the market.
The financials at Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) line up with that thesis. In fiscal Q3 2026, the company reported revenue of $41.46 billion, a year-over-year jump of 345.7%, with non-GAAP EPS of $25.11 and GAAP gross margin of 84.6%. The Cloud Memory segment alone delivered $13.77 billion. Guidance for Q4 calls for revenue of $50.0 billion ± $1.0 billion and EPS of $31.00 ± $1.00. CEO Sanjay Mehrotra told investors that “Micron’s record fiscal Q3 financial results and even stronger outlook for Q4 reflect the strategic value of memory in the AI era.”
On the earnings call, Mehrotra warned that “we continue to expect supply and demand for both DRAM and NAND to remain tight beyond calendar 2026,” and noted Micron can fulfill only “50% to two-thirds” of some key customers’ demand. New U.S. and Singapore capacity is not slated to ship meaningful volume until mid-calendar 2027 and 2028.
What It Means for Investors The key question is how long the memory shortage lasts. The TWiT panel believes relief is unlikely before 2028, while Micron management has already warned that DRAM and NAND markets should remain tight beyond 2026. If AI infrastructure spending continues at its current pace, memory makers could maintain strong pricing power for years to come. If hyperscalers find ways to reduce memory demand or new manufacturing capacity ramps faster than expected, those tailwinds could begin to fade.
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D.A. Davidson Head of Technology Research Gil Luria recently appeared on CNBC to flag what he calls a contradictory set of AI-cycle assumptions baked into chip and software valuations. His call was that if AI infrastructure spending continues to compound through the end of the decade, Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU | MU Price Prediction) could be worth roughly four times its current price. However, if the AI cycle peaks sooner instead, many of today’s richly valued CPU stocks could lose a significant portion of their value.
What Gil Luria Still Sees in Micron After an 800% Run Luria argues that memory and GPU names like Micron and Nvidia are being valued “as if the cycle is peaking now,” while CPU-leveraged names such as Intel and AI-silicon challenger Cerebras are priced as if the buildout runs another five years. By his numbers, Micron is changing hands at “8 or 9 times or lower” while CPU stocks sit at “40-50 times and higher.” Luria says memory is more critical to AI workloads and faces less competition than CPUs, so the spread “doesn’t make any sense.”
Micron reported fiscal Q3 2026 revenue of $41.456 billion, beating consensus by 17.60%, with non-GAAP EPS of $25.11 and a GAAP gross margin of 84.6%. Cloud Memory revenue alone hit $13.769 billion. CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said the results “reflect the strategic value of memory in the AI era” and pointed to newly signed multi-year Strategic Customer Agreements designed to “significantly enhance the durability and predictability” of revenue. Management guided fiscal Q4 revenue to $50.0 billion ± $1.0 billion and non-GAAP EPS of $31.00 ± $1.00.
Micron is up 296.92% year to date and 800.86% over the past year, with a forward P/E of 7. Luria frames a potential 4x for Micron as a scenario contingent on AI spending continuing through 2030.
Why the Market Could Be Overlooking Microsoft Luria’s second call concerns Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT). He says Microsoft has “50% more AI compute backlog than Google” and is selling significant AI infrastructure software, yet is “getting punished for the same capex as Google.” Luria believes the company is selling data center capacity at a meaningful markup and locking in multi-year returns, so the capex is going in at attractive economics.
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Microsoft is down 22.54% year to date and 24.42% over the past year, with an 18.14% one-month decline, which Luria characterized as its worst month in a couple of decades. He notes Google traded at 18x a year ago and Microsoft at 30x, a relationship that has since inverted.
Microsoft’s most recent quarter showed Azure growth of 40% year over year, an annual run rate for its AI business of $37 billion (up 123%), and commercial remaining performance obligations of $627 billion. Capex hit $30.88 billion in the quarter, the spending that flows directly into Micron’s HBM and data center memory order books. Microsoft now trades at a forward P/E of 19.
What To Watch Luria’s framework centers on finding valuation disconnects, where the market is pricing a near-term AI peak for one company but years of continued growth for another. For Micron, the key question is whether its multi-year Strategic Customer Agreements and HBM4 ramp can sustain pricing power into 2027, when HBM4E is expected to enter volume production. For Microsoft, investors will be watching to see whether AI revenue growth catches up with the heavy capital spending that has weighed on sentiment. More than any single valuation multiple, Luria’s thesis depends on which AI growth scenario ultimately plays out.
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