TLDR
- DA Davidson initiated coverage of Micron (MU) with a Buy rating and a Street-high $1,000 price target
- The firm argues AI is creating a “longer-than-usual memory cycle” with a structurally higher demand ceiling
- The $1,000 target implies ~90% upside from Micron’s last closing price of $524
- TD Cowen raised its target to $660, saying the next phase is about “durability” not earnings upside
- Melius Research also initiated with a Buy and $700 target, seeing the AI memory cycle extending through the end of the decade
DA Davidson initiated coverage of Micron (MU) on Tuesday with a Buy rating and a $1,000 price target â the highest on Wall Street by a wide margin.
The figure tops the previous high of $700, set just one day earlier by Melius Research, and implies roughly 90% upside from Micron’s last closing price of $524.
Analyst Gil Luria made the case that AI has broken the traditional memory cycle. Historically, memory markets have been cyclical â capacity gets overbuilt, margins compress, and demand cools. Luria argues that dynamic no longer applies.
“We believe artificial intelligence is creating a longer-than-usual memory cycle as compute deployment and demand generation exist in a positive feedback loop, creating a structurally higher ceiling for memory pricing and demand,” he wrote.
In plain terms: each new wave of AI compute doesn’t just consume existing demand â it creates new demand. That’s a meaningfully different setup than prior cycles.
Manufacturing Edge and Supply Stability
Luria also highlighted Micron’s manufacturing position. The company has posted four consecutive generations of node leadership in DRAM and three in NAND, which he says compounds over time through lower costs and stronger competitiveness.
He also pointed to multi-year supply agreements as a differentiator. Long-term contracts give Micron better demand visibility and a degree of pricing stability that the memory industry has rarely had.
“The market is still framing the cycle through the lens of prior downturns, which appears to underestimate the demand environment,” Luria wrote.
The $1,000 target stands well above the 12-month consensus. Based on 30 analyst notes tracked by TipRanks over the past three months, the average price target for MU sits at $574.67 â implying about 9.55% upside from current levels.
Other Analysts Also Turning More Bullish
DA Davidson isn’t alone in warming up to Micron this week.
TD Cowen analyst Krish Sankar raised his price target to $660 from $550 on April 28, keeping a Buy rating. His framing was slightly different â he said the “next leg for the stock is more about durability than earnings upside.”
Sankar doesn’t see much room for his 2027 EPS estimate of $110 to move higher. But he believes the stock can keep performing as long as demand signals support the durability thesis.
Melius Research, meanwhile, initiated coverage on April 27 with a Buy and a $700 target. The firm sees memory companies as central to its AI coverage, arguing they sit at the intersection of AI semiconductors, hardware, and hyperscalers.
Melius also said the market may eventually assign a higher multiple to memory names given the “unusual durability of the margin and demand profiles” that AI is generating across HBM, DRAM, and NAND. The firm also initiated on SanDisk with a Buy.
Micron has posted year-to-date gains of 66.3% as of April 27.
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