US chipmaker Micron Technology has crossed the 1 trillion US dollar market value mark for the first time. The stock rose by more than 18 percent at times on Tuesday and reached a new record high. That puts Micron in the group of companies whose valuations have so far mainly been associated with tech giants such as Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft and Alphabet.
The rally was triggered by a new assessment from UBS. The bank sharply raised its price target for Micron from 535 to 1,625 US dollars, citing strong demand for memory chips used in AI applications, long-term supply agreements and structural changes in the market. According to UBS, Micron’s market value could rise even further over the next 12 months.
Memory chips become an AI bottleneck
Micron is best known for DRAM and NAND memory chips. For a long time, the business was considered highly cyclical: in boom phases, prices and profits rise; in downturns, margins quickly come under pressure. The AI boom is now fundamentally changing that perception.
So-called high-bandwidth memory chips, or HBM, are in particularly high demand. These memory components are closely linked to AI accelerators and are crucial for enabling large models to process data quickly. Without powerful memory, even the strongest AI processors are slowed down.
This puts Micron in a key position. While Nvidia is seen as the best-known winner of the AI wave, Micron’s share price surge shows that the actual infrastructure behind AI is much broader. Data centres do not only need graphics processors; they also need memory, networking technology, energy supply, cooling and stable supply chains.
Analysts see structural change
UBS analysts assume that AI is permanently changing the memory market. They expect demand for DRAM and NAND chips to remain tight until 2028. Long-term customer agreements are seen as a sign that major technology companies are securing capacity early.
Other memory stocks also benefited from the renewed enthusiasm. SK Hynix likewise crossed the 1 trillion US dollar market value mark, joining Samsung and TSMC among Asia’s most valuable chip companies. The rise shows that investors increasingly view the AI boom as a broader semiconductor cycle — no longer just as a Nvidia story.
The AI rally is broadening
For investors, this is an important signal. The AI rally is increasingly moving beyond the most visible winners and towards suppliers and infrastructure companies. Anyone building data centres needs an entire value chain: chips, memory, power, cooling, fibre optics, servers, software and semiconductor equipment.
Micron therefore stands for the second phase of AI enthusiasm. In the first phase, the focus was mainly on models, platforms and graphics processors. Now the components without which the industrial rollout of AI would not be possible are moving more strongly into focus.
That makes the valuation more understandable, but not risk-free. Memory chips remain a market with high investment requirements, technological competition and potential overcapacity. If AI demand weakens or data centre expansion slows, expectations could quickly appear too high.
High valuation, high expectations
The new trillion-dollar valuation is both a distinction and a burden. Micron now has to prove that demand is really as strong and durable as investors are pricing in. High price targets and record valuations increase the downside risk if earnings, margins or supply agreements disappoint.
Still, the jump marks a turning point. A company that was long seen as a classic cyclical stock is now being valued as a strategic AI infrastructure player. This shows how deeply the AI boom is already reaching into the industrial base of the technology sector.
SK
