NEW YORK, July 23, 2026 – Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) closed Thursday's session at $990.21, posting a 3.2% gain, while the broader Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.15% in a widespread technology selloff. The divergence signals a clear investor preference for suppliers in the artificial intelligence infrastructure buildout, as memory chip scarcity becomes a focal point.
Micron outperformed the Nasdaq by 5.35 percentage points and beat NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) by 4.73 points. At Thursday's close, Micron added approximately $35 billion in market value, a striking figure when compared to Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) raising its 2026 capital expenditure midpoint by $15 billion. While not a direct revenue comparison, the numbers highlight the size of the scarcity premium investors are assigning to memory supply.
Alphabet now expects 2026 spending of $195 billion to $205 billion, up from its prior range of $180 billion to $190 billion. CFO Anat Ashkenazi cited "an acceleration in the delivery of capacity to meet growing demand." Despite the capex hike, Alphabet shares fell 7% as investors penalized the buyer, with second-quarter free cash flow coming in at negative $5.9 billion.
Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) provided another demand signal. Elon Musk noted that Micron's memory allocation was significant and carried reasonable terms, though no product, price, or contract duration was disclosed. This further underscored the tightness in the memory market.
The relative moves on Thursday sharpened the message. Micron closed at $990.21, up 3.2%; SK hynix Inc. (NASDAQ: SKHY) rose 2.56% to $169.50; NVIDIA fell 1.53% to $208.76; and the Nasdaq Composite ended at 25,137.69, down 2.15%. Notably, the peer move was not a broad chip rally—the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index lost 0.5%.
Micron's last reported quarter demonstrates the earnings leverage of tight supply. Fiscal third-quarter revenue reached $41.46 billion, with non-GAAP gross margin at 84.9% and adjusted free cash flow of $18.3 billion. CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said customer agreements should improve "durability and predictability." Company guidance calls for $50 billion in fiscal fourth-quarter revenue and roughly 86% gross margin.
Micron fell 13.3% in the week ended July 17 but has since recovered 16.6% through Thursday. Risks remain, as the trade depends on sustained tight supply. Faster capacity growth or weaker AI spending could compress chip prices and margins. Micron is still 21% below its June 25 high.
Next week, SK hynix reports second-quarter results on July 29 at 09:00 KST, which will serve as the next test of Thursday's scarcity trade.
