Donald Trump's Investment Team Sold Micron. Here's What Investors Should Know Before Following the Money.

Source The Motley Fool

Key Points

  • President Trump’s investment team sold Micron stock in August.

  • Micron’s fundamentals remain strong, and the stock trades below five times forward earnings.

  • Wall Street is bullish about the stock.

  • 10 stocks we like better than Micron Technology ›

There has been a "Trump dump" of Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU) stock. Federal financial disclosures recently revealed that President Donald Trump's brokerage accounts sold between $251,000 and $515,000 of the tech stock in August.

Anytime a prominent figure buys or sells a significant amount of any stock, it often attracts attention. That's true even in a case like this, where it was actually the president's investment team that made the call to sell Micron, rather than Trump himself.

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Should retail investors sell Micron, too? Here's what you need to know first.

Micron headquarters.

Image source: Micron Technology.

Not a major story

The most important thing to understand is that Trump's sale of Micron stock wasn't a major story. You might even call it a "nothingburger." The move appeared to be a simple case of profit-taking. Micron's shares were up more than 750% over the previous 12 months when the president's team sold the stock.

Another reason investors shouldn't put too much focus on any of the president's portfolio transactions is that they don't necessarily reflect much, if anything, about the merits of an individual stock. Trump's investment advisors likely balance multiple factors, including diversification and liquidity needs, tax planning, and more, that sometimes require selling solid stocks.

Arguably, the biggest issue with blindly following trades made by Trump's team is the time lag. Presidential financial disclosures are only required within 45 days of a trade (plus an annual disclosure). By the time they're filed, a lot could have changed with any given stock bought or sold during the period. The same premise applies to copying trades made by members of the U.S. Congress.

Micron's fundamentals tell the real tale

Granted, the decision by President Trump's team to sell Micron stock appears smart in retrospect. The stock has fallen sharply since the large sale on Aug. 21, 2026. However, Micron's fundamentals remain exceptionally strong.

The company's revenue soared 31% quarter over quarter and 379% year over year in its fiscal fourth quarter, which ended Sept. 3, 2026. Earnings jumped 38.5% quarter over quarter and 11.8x year over year.

Sure, Micron is a cyclical stock. But its boom cycle is showing no signs of slowing down. COO Manish Bhatia said in the fourth-quarter earnings call that the company is "seeing stronger demand drivers than we've seen before" for both 2027 and 2028. He noted that Micron has "more than 75% of our shipments committed for the year" for fiscal 2027.

As hyperscalers ramp up their artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, the demand for memory chips continues to surge. That's especially the case for high-bandwidth memory (HBM). And Micron is a key leader in the global HBM market.

Meanwhile, the stock looks dirt cheap on multiple widely used valuation metrics. Micron's shares trade below five times forward earnings. Its price-to-earnings-to-growth (PEG) ratio, which factors in analysts' five-year earnings growth projections, is a super-low 0.16.

Make your own decisions

Of the 28 Wall Street analysts who have rated Micron over the past three months, all but one recommended buying shares. The lone outlier advised investors to hold the stock.

Even more impressive, the average Wall Street 12-month price target for Micron implies roughly 130% upside. The most pessimistic price target for the stock is around 70% above the share price as of Nov. 5, 2026.

Should investors buy Micron based on analysts' enthusiasm about the stock? The answer is a resounding "no." It's important to make your own investment decisions independently of political figures' moves or the consensus view on Wall Street.

That said, Micron's recent sell-off could present a buying opportunity for investors who think it will take a while for the supply demand imbalance in memory chips to be resolved.

Should you buy stock in Micron Technology right now?

Before you buy stock in Micron Technology, consider this:

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Keith Speights has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Micron Technology. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Disclaimer: For information purposes only. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
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