Why Micron Stock Popped Today

Key Points

• President Trump just announced a 100% tariff on imported semiconductors.

• Some companies that build factories in the U.S. may face no tariffs on either their domestic or their imported chips.

• Micron is building semiconductor factories in the U.S., and may be able to dodge the tariff.

• 10 stocks we like better than Micron Technology ›

Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU), one of the world's foremost makers of computer memory, is climbing the charts this morning as investors try to make heads or tails of President Donald Trump's latest tariffs announcement, which slaps 100% tariffs on imported semiconductors such as those Micron manufactures abroad.

Micron stock jumped 2.9% through 10:30 a.m. ET on the news.

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Image source: Getty Images.

Trump on Tariffs (again)

As CNBC reports, the president wants a 100% tariff on imported chips, but with caveats. "We're going to be putting a very large tariff on chips and semiconductors," Trump said. But he also said that "if you're building in the United States or have committed to build ... there will be no charge."

Build what, you may ask? Well, presumably build semiconductor manufacturing plants. And Micron is building multiple such plants, everywhere from New York State to Boise, Idaho.

And on what exactly will there "be no charge?" Well apparently -- or at least this is how investors are interpreting the cryptic statement -- there will be no charge on any of the semiconductors that you manufacture abroad for import into the U.S.

Is Micron stock a buy now?

So you can see why investors are excited about Micron stock today, even if they're also a bit perplexed about what precisely Trump intended to say.

As for me, I'm more concerned with the numbers. At less than 20 times trailing earnings, Micron stock doesn't look too expensive at first glance. But real free cash flow for the company is less than $1.9 billion -- and less than one-third of reported net income. That pushes the stock's price-to-free-cash-flow ratio up past 64. And on a stock that's pegged for less than 5% long-term earnings growth by Wall Street analysts, that's too expensive.

Micron remains a sell.

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Rich Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.