AI Boom Drives Memory Demand, Lifting Micron’s Market Value Above $900 Billion for First Time

Micron Technology is a leading global memory-chip manufacturer whose products include DRAM, NAND and high-bandwidth memory. As AI server expansion drives greater memory consumption and product prices rise, the market expects Micron to deliver continued growth in revenue, gross margin and earnings, making it a key gauge of demand for AI infrastructure.

As of July 20, 2026, Wedbush expected Micron's third-quarter results to beat market expectations. It reiterated its “Outperform” rating and sharply raised its price target to $1,300. Wedbush said improving memory pricing trends and strong demand from AI applications would continue to support Micron's revenue and earnings momentum.

Generative AI is driving data-center expansion, while AI servers’ heavy use of high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, has made SK hynix and Micron Technology central to the supply chain. The companies’ rapidly rising share prices and market values also reflect investors’ reassessment of the memory industry’s strategic importance to AI infrastructure.

According to reports as of July 20, 2026, SK hynix’s market value had risen to $1.31 trillion and Micron Technology’s to $1.278 trillion, putting both ahead of Bitcoin. The reshuffle pushed Bitcoin down to 19th place among the world’s largest assets by market value, showing how the AI chip boom has propelled major memory manufacturers into the top ranks of global assets.

Generative AI is fueling data-center expansion, while high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and advanced DRAM have become key components in AI accelerators. Memory is consequently accounting for a rapidly growing share of hardware-system costs, signaling that industry value is spreading from computing chips to the memory supply chain. Micron is seen as a major beneficiary as it upgrades its product mix.

As of July 20, 2026, independent investment research firm Aletheia had revised its valuation approach to reflect this redistribution of value across AI hardware, sharply raising its Micron price target to $1,600 per share. Reports did not disclose the previous target or the exact date of the upgrade, but the new target underscores high expectations for long-term demand and profitability in advanced memory.

AI data centers are consuming large volumes of HBM and server DRAM, crowding out conventional memory production and turning DRAM into a bottleneck for computing-capacity expansion. NAND supplies are also tightening. Morgan Stanley said hyperscale cloud providers remain willing to pay premium prices to secure supply and that shortages could persist for two to three years. Price increases are also set to raise the cost of smartphones, PCs and cloud equipment.

In a June 3, 2026, report, Morgan Stanley analyst Joseph Moore more than doubled his Micron price target to $1,050 from $520 and raised his SanDisk target to $1,750 from $1,100. The report said demand growth continues to outpace supply, with no sign of near-term relief, leaving significant room for further increases in both companies’ earnings forecasts and valuations.

Micron Technology is a major global supplier of memory chips, including DRAM, NAND and the high-bandwidth memory used in AI servers. UBS believes demand for AI infrastructure and new types of long-term contracts are reshaping supply, demand and pricing across the industry. The changes could reduce cyclical volatility, improve earnings visibility and affect valuations across Taiwan's memory-chip supply chain.

As of July 20, 2026, UBS had tripled its Micron price target to $1,625, sending the shares up as much as 18% intraday. Some reports described the gain as approaching 20%, while the company's market capitalization topped $1 trillion for the first time. The market expects the revaluation to lift related Taiwanese memory stocks, though the outlook still depends on whether AI orders and contract pricing materialize.

Micron is a major global supplier of DRAM, NAND and HBM. Demand for high-bandwidth memory has surged, driven by Nvidia AI chips and data-center expansion. Tightening supply and demand has also pushed up conventional memory prices, making Micron a key Wall Street gauge of the AI infrastructure cycle.

Micron is due to report second-quarter results this week, with investors watching whether AI-related demand can be sustained. Other analysts have described Citi's research as overly conservative and expect Micron to benefit as NAND supply becomes a bottleneck for DRAM capacity expansion. Micron posted a 74.4% gross margin last quarter as revenue more than tripled year on year. Its shares rose more than 5% at one point in premarket trading, while one expert said the stock could reach $600.