Anders Bylund, The Motley Fool
Thu, January 8, 2026 astatine 7:53 AM CST 4 min read
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AI-driven request for representation chips pushed Micron's quarterly gross up 56.6% twelvemonth implicit year.
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The memory-chip marketplace is notoriously cyclical, but AI request whitethorn interruption the boom-bust pattern.
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Micron's banal looks similar a bargain compared to AI darlings similar Nvidia, AMD, and Palantir.
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Shares of Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU) roseate 20.7% successful December 2025, according to information from S&P Global Market Intelligence. After this boost, Micron is mounting all-time terms records astir each day. There is nary enigma astir this jump: Micron crushed Wall Street's expectations successful the Q1 2026 study it published connected Dec. 17.
Yes, you guessed it. Artificial quality (AI) is driving dense request for Micron's machine memory. From semipermanent retention Flash/NAND chips to moving SDRAM for servers and end-user devices, thing that touches AI services is bare for much representation nowadays. The request is peculiarly urgent for alleged precocious bandwidth representation (HBM), a caller benignant of spot that's suitable for the data-crunching systems that bid AI models.
The request is beardown capable to alteration the operation of the memory-chip market. Production lines are moving astatine afloat speed, Micron and others are gathering much chip-making facilities arsenic accelerated arsenic they can, and portion prices are inactive soaring owed to chronic shortages. Micron is going to large lengths to nutrient much AI-oriented representation chips, to the constituent of retiring the Crucial marque aft decades of selling consumer-facing representation modules and solid-state drives (SSDs). The machines that marque Crucial products volition make much gross for Micron successful the AI-specific representation segment.
All told, Micron's revenues roseate 56.6% year-over-year successful the archetypal 4th of fiscal twelvemonth 2026. Net income jumped from $1.87 cardinal to $5.24 billion, net per stock astir quadrupled, and escaped currency travel skyrocketed from $112 cardinal to $3.91 billion. It's an understatement to telephone this a breakthrough quarter, and the financials should proceed to turn stronger successful fiscal 2026 and beyond.
I recognize if you don't expect Micron's bully times to past precise long. The representation spot marketplace is notoriously cyclical, arsenic a fistful of monolithic spot suppliers usually overreact to some affirmative and antagonistic changes successful end-market demand.
All signs suggest that this upturn should beryllium different, though. The AI roar is larger than the smartphone explosion, and surely much important than the intentional oversupply that usually signals different downturn. Memory-hogging AI systems volition astir apt devour arsenic galore chips arsenic the starring producers tin travel up with for the foreseeable future.

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