Micron Technology stock went parabolic last week, rising 15% in a single session on May 8. Over the last five trading sessions, the chip stock has risen almost 40% and returned 137% year-to-date.
Valued at amarket cap of $729 billion, Micron (MU) is among the largest semiconductor companies in the world.
In 2026, it continues to benefit from the AI megatrend and a deepening shortage of memory chips.
According to a CNBC report, Micron stock posted its best week since December 2008. At that time, MU stock was priced at just $5. Today, it trades around $747.
It means a $1,000 investment in MU stock back in late 2008 would be worth more than $262,000 today.
Memory chip crunch is a tailwind for Micron stock
There are two main types of memory used in artificial intelligence systems.
Dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, is the fast, high-performance kind used inside AI processors to handle active computations.
NAND flash memory is slightly slower but more durable, and it’s used for storage in solid-state drives, or SSDs.
Both are essential to building AI data centers. Every time a hyperscaler like Amazon, Google, or Microsoft adds more AI capacity, they need more of both.
Micron, Samsung, and SK Hynix together control more than90% of global DRAM supply. That gives each of them enormous pricing power during a shortage, and right now, that shortage is severe.
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Micron isn’t the only chipmaker benefiting. In fact, the entire sector is getting swept up in a wave of enthusiasm tied to AI infrastructure spending, which Bank of America and Evercore now estimate could surpass $1 trillion by the end of 2027.
What Micron’s earnings call revealed
During Micron’s fiscal second-quarter 2026 post-earnings analyst call, Chief Business Officer Sumit Sadana made something clear: demand is so far ahead of supply that even aggressive investment can’t close the gap quickly.
Sadana stated:
“Our supply is nowhere close to being able to meet the demand that we see for the foreseeable future.”
On the DRAM side, new manufacturing facilities the company has announced, including a new Idaho shell and a recently acquired fab in Tongluo, Taiwan, won’t meaningfully contribute to supply until Micron’s fiscal 2028.
The company broke ground on a new cleanroom in Singapore, but that capacity also won’t come online until the second half of 2028.
In the meantime, prices keep rising. During the fiscal second quarter, both DRAM and NAND prices increased sharply, with NAND rising even faster than DRAM. Volume grew for both, with DRAM outpacing NAND.
