Micron Technology briefly crossed the $1 trillion market capitalisation mark for the first time on Tuesday, marking a dramatic milestone in the artificial intelligence-driven rally that has transformed the US memory-chip maker into one of Wall Street’s biggest winners.
Micron shares surged as much as 19.3% during trading before trimming some gains to trade 17.4% higher at $881.60. The sharp rally came after UBS raised its price target on the stock to $1,625 from $535, the highest target among the 46 brokerages tracked by LSEG.
While Nvidia has dominated investor attention through its AI graphics processors, Micron has emerged as a major beneficiary through its high-bandwidth memory and storage chips that help AI systems store, process and transfer enormous amounts of data.
The rally also signals a broader shift in the AI trade, with investors increasingly moving beyond GPU makers toward companies expected to benefit from Big Tech’s multibillion-dollar spending spree on AI data centres and infrastructure.
Micron’s ascent is especially significant because the global memory-chip industry has traditionally been dominated by Asian players. Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest memory-chip maker, has already crossed the $1 trillion valuation mark, while SK Hynix is also nearing the milestone amid soaring demand for AI memory products.
Micron shares have risen more than eightfold over the past year as strong earnings, supply-chain bottlenecks and intense competition for advanced memory products have strengthened the company’s pricing power in the global semiconductor market.
Micron’s rally outpaced much of the semiconductor sector, with some reports pointing to an unexpected catalyst — a public endorsement from US President Donald Trump.
“Micron, boy Micron’s great, they’re investing hundreds of billions,” Trump said during a rally in New York, on Friday.
Micron Technology has pledged to invest up to $100 billion over the next two decades to build what it says will be the largest semiconductor manufacturing facility in the United States. The mega project, located in New York state, broke ground earlier this year and is expected to begin production in 2030.
The company has also outlined a broader $200 billion strategy aimed at expanding memory-chip manufacturing and research-and-development operations across the US.
(With inputs from agencies)