Micron hits $1 trillion market value on AI chip demand

Micron Technology reached $1 trillion in market value for the first time on Tuesday as shares surged 18 percent to a record high of $886.60, driven by explosive artificial intelligence demand for memory chips. Brokerage UBS nearly tripled its price target on the stock to $1,625 per share from $535, the highest among the 46 firms covering the company, with the new target suggesting shares could more than double from Friday's close. The milestone cements Micron as the largest U.S. memory chipmaker and one of the standout winners of the AI boom. The rally reflects a broader shift in how investors are positioning themselves in the AI trade. After initially crowding into makers of graphics processors like Nvidia, investors are now snapping up stocks tied to central processing units and memory needed to run and process agentic workloads. Micron has said its entire 2026 high-bandwidth memory chip supply is already sold out, with next-generation HBM4 products now in production. Shares have climbed more than eightfold over the past 12 months and have more than tripled this year. The company emerged as one of the biggest institutional favorites in the first quarter, with about 2,440 institutions disclosing new positions, including Rockefeller Capital Management and Schroders, according to regulatory filings. The milestone gives the United States a strong contender in a memory-chip race that has largely been led by Asia, where South Korea's Samsung Electronics has already surpassed the $1 trillion mark and SK Hynix is closing in. The ascent signals a sharp rebound from the post-pandemic period when memory chipmakers grappled with a supply glut as demand for personal computers and smartphones weakened. Micron trades at 8.42 times expected earnings over the next 12 months, compared with 22.15 for the S&P 500 index.