Micron, the Boise, Idaho-based memory chip maker, has captured Wall Street's attention with a stunning market cap surge, briefly surpassing Meta and Tesla on Thursday before settling near their levels by Friday. The company closed Friday with a valuation close to $1.27 trillion, while Meta stood at $1.39 trillion and Tesla at $1.42 trillion. Micron's stock soared 236% in the past month alone, closing at $1,132 per share, a dramatic rise from below $100 before mid-2025.
This remarkable growth is driven by the AI boom, which has created an unprecedented demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and other memory chips. AI servers require far more memory than traditional laptops, and companies like Nvidia, Microsoft, Amazon AWS, Google, Meta, and Oracle are buying up large quantities. The supply shortage, dubbed RAMageddon, is expected to persist into 2027, pushing up prices for consumer electronics such as Apple products and Xbox consoles, as covered in our article on Apple's price hikes due to the AI component crisis (link). Additionally, the shortage is affecting upcoming smartphones, with leaks suggesting the iPhone 18 Pro will cost more (link).
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Micron's Record Quarterly Earnings
Micron's latest quarterly results were blockbuster. Revenue quadrupled year-over-year to $41.45 billion, while profit surged from $1.88 billion to $28.2 billion. The company forecasted fourth-quarter revenue between $49 billion and $51 billion. These figures have led Wall Street analysts to view Micron as a potential next Nvidia.
The historic challenge for memory makers like Micron and Samsung is the cyclical nature of the industry. Building new fabrication plants is time-consuming and expensive, and demand often falls just as capacity increases, creating a glut. To mitigate this, Micron has secured long-term supply agreements with key customers, including Nvidia and AI lab Anthropic. The company reported signing 16 strategic customer agreements across data center, consumer, and automotive segments, which it believes will fundamentally transform its business model.
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Analysts are bullish. Sebastien Naji of William Blair noted that demand growth continues to outpace the rate of new cleanroom space. He wrote in a research note: "Given the strong likelihood of continued ASP growth in the coming quarters and improving revenue visibility thanks to a rapidly expanding set of long-term agreements (SCAs) with key customers, we see potential for more durable earnings growth and reiterate our Outperform rating."
Whether Micron can sustain this growth without a downturn remains to be seen. For more on HBM technology, refer to the Wikipedia page (High Bandwidth Memory).
Source: https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/28/why-wall-street-thinks-us-memory-maker-micron-is-the-next-nvidia
