TradingKey - Micron Stock Surges Over 6% in a Single Day to Break $1,000; Can It Rewrite All-Time Highs in September?
Last Friday (September 4), Micron Technology (MU) stock bucked the trend to surge over 6%, strongly breaching the $1,000 mark to close at $1,016.59. Notably, all three major U.S. stock indices fell collectively during the same period, but memory stocks such as Micron, SK Hynix (SKHY), SanDisk (SNDK), and others staged a collective rally.
Micron stock price chart, Source: TradingView
Last Friday, the U.S. released a strong non-farm payrolls report, triggering market concerns over cooling Federal Reserve rate-cut expectations and rising U.S. Treasury yields, which put pressure on the three major U.S. stock indices. However, the main reason Micron Technology and memory concept stocks were able to break free from the macro market's pressure remains driven by fundamentals and industry catalysts.
Research firms such as Susquehanna and TechInsights released their latest reports, pointing out that driven strongly by AI server deployments, DRAM contract prices this quarter are expected to rise by over 50% to 200%, with NAND Flash also seeing a 60% gain. DRAM accounts for nearly 70% of Micron's revenue, and the surging prices directly reflect in the improvement of the company's profit margins, leading market capital to ignore short-term macro interest rate fluctuations and actively position for the memory supercycle.
In addition, concerns over a strike at Micron have eased, reducing supply chain risks. Previously, the market worried that Micron's Taiwan facilities—which account for the bulk of Micron's DRAM capacity—faced strike risks due to union demands for performance bonuses. Last week, news surfaced that management would pay record-high bonuses and engage in mediation, significantly reducing downside risk to key supply chain operations.
Micron is scheduled to report its latest quarterly financial results at the end of September. The market forecasts that its single-quarter revenue will surpass $50 billion, with non-GAAP gross margin remaining at an extremely high level of 85%–86%. Investors actively positioned themselves before the earnings release, driving the stock price past the $1,000 mark in one bound. However, whether Micron's stock price can continue to rise to challenge its all-time high still depends on its financial performance and the broader macroeconomy, with the key being whether the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates.
This Friday (September 11), the U.S. will release August CPI data, followed by the Federal Reserve's rate-setting meeting on September 15–16. If rate cuts are initiated, Micron, as a tech stock, will benefit and is expected to break through its all-time high. If interest rates are kept unchanged or even raised, Micron's stock price will take a hit and fall, and no matter how good the subsequently released financial results are, it will be difficult to drive the stock to new highs.