TradingKey - Micron continues to surge and hit new highs today, poised to break through the $1,200 mark ahead of its earnings release.
On June 22, Eastern Time, Micron ( MU) Technology's stock price extended its gains to hit another record high. In pre-market trading, Micron's stock price surged 4.62% to temporarily stand at $1,188.50. Not only Micron, but other memory-related stocks also rose. Among them, Western Digital ( WDC) rose over 6%, SanDisk ( SNDK) and Seagate Technology ( STX) rose over 4%, and Silicon Motion ( SIMO) rose by about 2%.
Notably, the broad rally in Micron Technology and the entire memory sector was not accompanied by any specific positive news. It is more likely catalyzed by market optimism ahead of Micron's upcoming earnings report, as well as the collective bullish sentiment from top Wall Street investment banks and other institutions.
According to public data, Aletheia Capital and UBS are bullish on Micron Technology's stock price, targeting around $1,600; Deutsche Bank and TD Cowen are targeting $1,500; Bernstein has a price target of $1,300; while Citi and Wolfe Research are relatively conservative, targeting around $1,200. Compared to the current stock price, Citi and Wolfe Research's price targets could be reached even before the earnings report is released.
This Wednesday (June 24), Micron will release its latest quarterly earnings report after the bell. According to Micron management's previous guidance, the 'magic number' the market is most focused on this time is the third fiscal quarter's 'gross margin.' The market expectations target is around 81%. If the actual reported figure meets or exceeds this level, it will prove that Micron's pricing premium is still intact, and UBS's target price of $1,500 may be realized; conversely, any disappointment could trigger heavy profit-taking.
From a technical analysis perspective, Micron may find multiple support levels during a pullback, but $1,000 and $850 represent the strong support. The former is a psychological round-number level, while the latter is the support level from the first pullback between June 5 and June 11 this year. Both areas have previously attracted a large volume of capital.
Micron stock price chart, Source: TradingView