TLDR
- Micron stock climbed 3.28% in pre-market Monday after Bernstein SocGen raised its price target to $1,300 from $510.
- The firm cited stronger memory-chip pricing and higher high-bandwidth memory (HBM) expectations through 2027.
- Micron is up over 800% in the past 12 months, closing at a record $1,133.99 on Thursday.
- Apple’s Tim Cook warned the company can no longer fully absorb surging component costs from suppliers.
- Chinese chipmakers expanding capacity could pressure global DRAM prices around 2028.
Micron Technology (MU) stock was trading higher in Monday’s pre-market session, up 3.28%, after Bernstein SocGen Group raised its price target on the stock to $1,300 — up sharply from its prior target of $510.
The firm pointed to stronger-than-expected memory-chip pricing and rising demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) as the key drivers. It also raised earnings forecasts for Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, projecting profits well above analyst consensus through the near term.
Micron closed at a record $1,133.99 on Thursday — up 8.70% on the day — and is now up more than 800% over the past 12 months.
On a year-to-date basis, MU has surged 259.52%.
Earnings are due Wednesday after the closing bell, and analyst commentary heading into the print has been bullish.
Jack Gold, principal analyst at J.Gold Associates, said price relief is not coming anytime soon. “It’s unlikely we’ll see any appreciable price decreases until the manufacturing catches up with the demand, which is unlikely for the next 12-18 months at least,” he told MarketWatch.
Morningstar’s William Kerwin was equally direct. “Tight memory supply is sending prices skyrocketing, leading to massive growth coming at nearly pure profit,” he said.
Micron has been shifting its focus toward HBM, which carries higher margins than traditional DRAM and sits at the center of AI hardware demand. That positioning has been a key part of the bull case.
Perplexity AI CEO Aravind Srinivas went a step further, suggesting Micron could eventually surpass Meta Platforms (META) in market value. His argument: the biggest AI winners will be hardware providers with supply-chain advantages and limited manufacturing capacity.
Apple Feeling the Squeeze
The memory price surge is hitting downstream buyers hard. Apple (AAPL) CEO Tim Cook warned that the company can no longer fully absorb rising component costs from suppliers.
Cook called the current commodity market swings “unprecedented” in his 40 years in electronics supply chains, though Apple has not specified which products may be affected by price increases.
South Korean rival SK Hynix also had a strong session on Monday, closing up 5.6% and briefly overtaking Samsung to become South Korea’s most valuable company.
What Could Slow the Rally
ING economist Min Joo Kang wrote in a Monday research note that HBM prices are expected to rise 20-30% in 2026, with triple-digit chip export growth likely continuing into early 2027.
But Kang flagged a potential turning point further out. Chinese chipmakers ChangXin Memory Technologies and Yangtze Memory Technologies are expanding aggressively. Yangtze Memory is reportedly building three new factories in China that would more than double its current capacity by end of 2027.
“We expect DRAM prices to soften around 2028 as structural supply conditions improve,” Kang wrote.
Micron currently holds a growth score of 83.10% and a momentum rating of 99.62% on Benzinga Edge Stock Rankings.
Earnings are due Wednesday after market close.
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