Micron Technology (MU) has inched higher ahead of its second-quarter earnings release scheduled for after market close on Wednesday, March 18. Consensus is for the memory chips specialist to more than double its revenue to about $19.1 billion in Q2, helping earnings soar by an incredible 500% on a year-over-year basis to $8.52 a share.
Ahead of earnings, Micron stock is up about 55% year-to-date, but options traders continue to price in significant further upside through the remainder of 2026.
According to Barchart, the put-to-call ratio on derivatives contracts expiring March 20 sits at 0.86x currently, indicating a bullish skew. Meanwhile, the upper price on those call options at $481 suggests MU shares could rally a notable 8.4% after earnings.
Investors should also note that Micron’s relative strength index (14-day) is set at 60 at the time of writing, reinforcing that the upward momentum is not near exhaustion yet.
A 0.1% dividend yield and some $2.5 billion remaining under current buyback authorization make MU shares even more attractive as a long-term holding in 2026.
RBC Capital’s senior analyst Srini Pajjuri shares the options market’s optimism about Micron shares.
In a research note dated March 16, Pajjuri raised his price objective to $525, citing an AI-driven “memory super-cycle” that isn’t showing any signs of a slowdown any time soon.
According to him, the “base case” now assumes memory pricing will continue to at least through the end of calendar year 2026, given the transition to next-gen artificial intelligence chips that will require a 3.5x increase in HBM content.
Now that data centers account for over 50% of the industry revenue, the “boom-bust” volatility of the past is being replaced by structural sustainability, which justified a higher stock valuation, he concluded.
Note that RBC isn’t the only Wall Street firm that’s bullish on Micron heading into its earnings on Wednesday.
The consensus rating on MU stock sits at “Strong Buy” currently, with the mean target of $550 signaling potential upside of another 25% from here.
