Micron Technology is capturing Wall Street’s attention with a spectacular earnings performance driven by surging AI demand. The memory chipmaker delivered second-quarter results that significantly exceeded analyst expectations, posting $7.75 billion in revenue—a remarkable 93% year-over-year increase that topped estimates of $7.65 billion. Earnings per share came in at $1.18, beating the consensus forecast of $1.11.
The stellar results triggered a massive 20% intraday surge in Micron’s stock price on Thursday, with gains settling around 14% by midday in New York. This rally pushed the company’s year-to-date returns to 28%, helping it catch up with other AI chip leaders like Nvidia, which it had previously lagged. The enthusiasm wasn’t contained to Micron alone—the earnings sparked a broader rally across the semiconductor sector, lifting shares of Nvidia, Intel, and Super Micro Computer.
Trading volume exploded to 42.5 million shares mid-day Thursday, outpacing interest in other prominent AI stocks including Intel, Tesla, and Palantir. Wall Street analysts quickly revised their outlooks upward, with Rosenblatt raising its price target to $250 per share—implying an eye-popping 123% upside from current levels. The firm characterized Micron’s earnings beat as “unambiguous” and suggested the company is riding one of the “biggest semi/memory cycles ever.”
Bank of America also increased its price target to $125 per share, representing over 30% potential upside. The bank’s strategists noted that despite macro headwinds from softer PC and smartphone demand, Micron delivered beat-and-raise results powered by robust data center demand and continued growth in its AI-focused high-bandwidth memory (HBM) sales.
Morningstar tech analyst William Kerwin emphasized the sustainability of this momentum, stating this represents “a long upcycle in the memory market” that should continue through the next four quarters into calendar 2025. The Micron rally helped lift the broader market, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining 1% and recovering losses from the previous week’s selloff. Analysts noted that investor risk appetite remains strong, with fear of missing out (FOMO) driving buying activity rather than concerns about market tops.
Key Quotes
Despite increasing macro (softer PC, phone demand) headwinds, MU was able to deliver beat/raise results on the back of solid data center demand, including continued growth in its AI-levered high-bandwidth memory (HBM) sales.
Bank of America strategists highlighted this in their Thursday note, emphasizing how AI-specific products like high-bandwidth memory are offsetting weakness in traditional consumer electronics markets and driving Micron’s exceptional performance.
This is a long upcycle in the memory market benefitting Micron and its peers. We expect this upcycle to continue through the next four quarters through calendar 2025. So it exceeded our expectations, and we think the momentum can keep on going.
William Kerwin, a Morningstar tech stock analyst, provided this assessment to Bloomberg immediately following the earnings release, signaling that the AI-driven memory boom has significant runway ahead and isn’t a short-term phenomenon.
Investors jumped on this briefest, and shallowest, of dips to load up on equities, with results from Micron Technology providing the trigger. Risk appetite feels strong, with investors more concerned by their FOMO, than being the one that ’top-ticks’ the market.
David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation, captured the market sentiment in his Wednesday note, explaining how Micron’s results catalyzed broader market recovery and revealed investors’ continued enthusiasm for AI-related stocks despite recent volatility.
Our Take
Micron’s earnings represent a maturation of the AI investment narrative beyond just the obvious GPU beneficiaries. The 93% revenue growth and analyst targets implying 100%+ upside suggest we’re still in the early innings of AI infrastructure spending, not the late stages. What’s particularly noteworthy is how HBM sales are compensating for traditional market weakness—this indicates that AI workloads have fundamentally different memory requirements that are creating new profit pools in the semiconductor industry. The broad-based chip rally following Micron’s results also suggests investors are becoming more sophisticated about the AI supply chain, recognizing that memory, storage, and networking components are equally critical to the AI buildout as processors. The multi-year upcycle projection through 2025 provides visibility that should support continued investment in the sector, though valuations will need to be monitored as expectations climb.
Why This Matters
Micron’s earnings blowout represents a critical validation of the AI infrastructure investment thesis that has dominated tech markets throughout 2024. While much attention has focused on GPU makers like Nvidia, Micron’s success highlights that the AI boom is creating opportunities across the entire semiconductor supply chain, particularly in memory chips essential for AI workloads.
The company’s high-bandwidth memory (HBM) growth is especially significant, as this specialized memory is crucial for training and running large AI models in data centers. Micron’s ability to deliver strong results despite weakness in traditional markets like PCs and smartphones demonstrates how AI demand is becoming a powerful countercyclical force in the chip industry.
For investors and businesses, this signals that the AI infrastructure buildout remains in early stages, with memory and storage components representing the next wave of beneficiaries beyond processors. The analyst projections of a multi-year upcycle suggest sustained investment opportunities, while also indicating that enterprises and cloud providers continue to prioritize AI capabilities despite broader economic uncertainties. This earnings report reinforces that AI infrastructure spending shows no signs of slowing, providing a foundation for continued market optimism in the technology sector.
Recommended Reading
For those interested in learning more about artificial intelligence, machine learning, and effective AI communication, here are some excellent resources:
Recommended Reading
Related Stories
- Jensen Huang: TSMC Helped Fix Design Flaw with Nvidia’s Blackwell AI Chip
- Apple Q4 Earnings Preview: Wall Street Sees AI Fueling iPhone Demand in 2024
- Wall Street Asks Big Tech: Will AI Ever Make Money?
- EnCharge AI Secures $100M Series B to Revolutionize Energy-Efficient AI Chips
- Pitch Deck: TensorWave raises $10M to build safer AI compute chips for Nvidia and AMD