Micron’s results, due after market hours, would shape the view on the red-hot memory rally.
- BofA and Needham, among other brokerages, sharply raised their price targets on MU over the past week.
- Analysts expect Micron’s Q3 revenue to rise 279% to $28.86 billion, which would be the highest pace of topline growth on record, per Koyfin estimates.
- Retail sentiment for MU shifted to ‘bullish’ from ‘neutral’ early Wednesday.
Micron shares climbed nearly 4% in early premarket trading on Wednesday ahead of its closely watched third-quarter earnings report due later in the day, which many investors view as a key test of the red-hot rally in memory chip stocks.
Micron shares have surged an astonishing 750% over the past 12 months, as booming demand for memory chips and storage components from AI data centers has fueled a new industry supercycle, benefiting major players including SanDisk, Seagate, and Western Digital.
Analysts and investors have set a high bar for the results and will focus on updates on high-bandwidth memory (HBM) volumes, customer demand visibility, and pricing trends in both the DRAM and NAND markets.
Meanwhile, retail traders believe the stock could rally after earnings, arguing that Tuesday’s macro-driven pullback may have reset expectations. Micron shares had retreated as investors took profits following the company’s strong second-quarter report in March.
Analysts Upbeat Ahead Of MU’s Report
Earlier this week, Bank of America raised its price target on MU to $1,500 from $950, and reiterated its ‘Buy’ rating on the shares. BofA raised its estimate of Micron’s 2030 total semis industry addressable market to $2.7 trillion from $2.3 trillion, led mostly by growth in memory and data center, and also incrementally by recovery in auto and industrial markets.
The memory market has continued to strengthen over the past 90 days and the market fundamentals remain stronger as a result of continued strong demand, a robust pricing environment, and limited capacity additions, Needham said in its investor note on Monday.
The research firm bumped its price target to $1,550 from $500, and maintained a ‘Buy’ rating on MU stock.
Futurum Equities also reiterated its ‘Buy’ call with a $1,500 price target, saying that the memory cycle continues to tighten faster than expected. “Longer term we see DRAM/HBM capacity staying structurally tight into 2030 supporting EPS of $153 in CY27 and $190 in CY28,” the research firm said in an X post.
Expectations From Micron Q3 Report
Analysts expect revenue to rise 279% to $28.86 billion, which would be the highest pace of topline growth on record, per Koyfin estimates. Adjusted profit is expected to rise 962% to $20.28 per share.
Currently, 38 of the 43 analysts covering the stock rate it ‘Buy’ or higher, four rate it ‘Hold’ and one rates it ‘Sell,’ per Koyfin. Their average price target of $1,022.92 implies a 3% downside from the stock’s close on Tuesday.
MU Retail View, Stock Metrics
On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment for MU shifted to ‘bullish’ from ‘neutral,’ even as 24-hour message volume rose over 60%.
$MU haven’t even considered selling 🤷🏻♂️. Took a little profit a while back and riding the rest to $2,000,” said a trader. Another wrote: “Glad this tanked before earnings. Same price as last Wednesday. Tomorrow should be epic after earnings come out.”
Notably, short interest in MU shares have risen in the past few months and was 3.3% of the total stock float as of Tuesday. The company’s relative strength index reading was 57.04, the lowest among the top memory stocks. An RSI reading of 70 or higher denoted overbought levels.
SanDisk, Western Digital, and Seagate stocks were also rising in Wednesday’s premarket session, rebounding from a sharp drop in the previous session.
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