Micron Technology saw its shares climb 4.6% to $966.24 in early trading Friday, pushing the chipmaker's market capitalization above $1.1 trillion. The rally was fueled by a wave of analyst price-target upgrades and sustained demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) used in artificial intelligence applications.
The Boise, Idaho-based company's stock has been on a tear as investors increasingly view memory chips as critical infrastructure for AI data centers, shifting away from the traditional view of memory as a cyclical commodity. HBM, which stacks multiple memory chips close to AI processors to accelerate data transfer, has become a key bottleneck for companies building large-scale AI systems.
Micron crossed the $1 trillion market value threshold for the first time earlier this week, according to Reuters. UBS set a new price target of $1,625 on the shares, the highest among 46 brokerages tracked by LSEG. Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Wealth, called the milestone "an exclamation point" on the surge in memory demand, noting that Micron is "at the center" of that trend.
Additional analyst upgrades provided further momentum. Vijay Rakesh at Mizuho raised his target to $1,150, Gil Luria at D.A. Davidson lifted his to $1,500, and Tom O'Malley at Barclays set a target of $1,175. These calls, reported by Investor's Business Daily, cite strong memory demand from AI applications.
The bullish sentiment was reinforced by Micron's fiscal second-quarter results, reported in March. Revenue surged to $23.86 billion from $8.05 billion a year earlier. CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said on the earnings call that the company achieved all-time highs in revenue, gross margin, earnings per share, and free cash flow. "In the AI era, memory has become a strategic asset for our customers," Mehrotra stated.
SK Hynix also joined the $1 trillion market cap club this week, alongside Samsung Electronics and Micron, as memory chip prices continued to rise. Ongoing demand for high-end chips is keeping supply tight. "We expect memory chip demand to continue exceeding supply by 2028 to keep price levels high," said Kim Young-gun, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities in Seoul, in a note cited by Reuters.
However, Samsung Electronics introduced a significant competitive threat on Friday, announcing it has shipped samples of its 12-layer HBM4E chips. The company claims these chips are over 20% faster than previous HBM4 models. Reuters reported that this could help Samsung reclaim market share from SK Hynix and Micron. Jeff Kim, head of research at KB Securities-Jefferies, told Reuters that early leaders in HBM tend to secure the bulk of orders.
Traders are now focused on the risk that Samsung's HBM4E chips may soon qualify with top AI customers, potentially pressuring Micron's pricing and market share just as bullish bets on the stock have intensified. A pause in AI capital spending or a faster ramp-up in DRAM supply—the primary working memory in servers and computers—could also challenge the narrative that the memory cycle has fundamentally changed.
U.S. stocks opened higher Friday, coming off fresh records for the major indexes set Thursday, providing a supportive backdrop for the broader market.
