Micron $MU announced its quarterly EPS of USD 25.11 on June 24. It reached ATH at USD 1,255.
On 17July, it fell to USD 800. It took 15 trading days to drop about USD 450(-36%), equivalent to 4.5 years (18 quarters) of earnings.
Bank of America added $MU to its list of "best investment ideas" saying low cost Chinese AI models are expanding adoption and HBM demand.
Kimi K3 still requires ~1.4 TB of HBM per instance reinforcing Micron’s long term outlook.
UBS projects Micron $MU to generate over $400B in cumulative free cash flow between 2027 and 2029. 🤯
$1,625 price target (UBS analyst Timothy Arcuri)
It could use that cash to repurchase more than 40% of its shares.
These companies are down 40%.
What changed?
Nothing.
We got various confirmations that supply is short in this decade and will only slightly improve in the next one. SK Hynix will double capacity but it will not be enough.
@michaeljburry thinks this is the peak of the cycle. High margin, low forward p/e. If I'm not mistaken he shorted $NVDA and is short $ORCL, but wouldn't it make sense to short HBM/NAND producers if it's indeed a peak of the cycle?
In my book, nothing changed when it comes to $SKHY $MU $SNDK $KXIAY $SSNLF.
Does it mean they can't go lower? Ofc not.
Will it go higher? If the business shows strength over and over again then nothing will be able to keep the price down for long.
Long $SKHY $MU $SNDK $KXIAY
Morgan Stanley projects $MU gross margins could reach 90% in 2027 supported by 16 supply agreements with floor pricing and HBM sold out through 2027.
That contracted structure combined with a mix shift toward higher-margin HBM and data-center memory should structurally lift company-wide profitability while advanced packaging remains a huge chokepoint.
Also important to call out that HBM4 for $NVDA Vera Rubin platform began shipping in March 2026 and is ramping at roughly twice the pace of HBM3E 12-high scaling Micron’s highest-margin product into its strongest demand platform.
Even if the street prices $MU based on historical PE ratios, $3000 seems inevitable by 2028. 🤯
I did the math based on EPS projections. It is absolutely easy and crazy at the same time!
Average PE ratio of $MU for the last 10 years has been ~20. We'll consider that as the base case.
2027: EPS (est.): $150 → Price: $3000 ($150 x 20 PE)
2028: EPS (est.): $180 → Price: $3600 ($180 x 20 PE)
Beyond 2029, EPS could go past $200. That opens the door to $4000+, especially if margins hold. Even in a slower scenario, it is hard to see the company reverting to old valuations.
Catalysts:
> Innovation driving demand across applications and tech developments.
> Capex ramp through 2030 with more SCAs signed.
> Custom memory solutions sustaining demand.
> Supply imbalance continuing or stabilizing at tighter levels.
Downside risks:
> Hyperscaler capex coming in lower than expected.
> Oversupply in memory products.
> Competitor capacity pressuring ASPs.
Also underrated: fabs are genuinely hard to build fast. New capacity takes years to break ground, ramp, and staff with scarce skilled labor. People overestimate how quickly supply comes online, which is why this cycle stays tighter for longer than expected.
On a personal note, memory has become as crucial as GPUs/CPUs for AI. Especially HBM, where AI essentially thinks. That is Micron's flagship product right now.
The lifespan of AI accelerators has compressed from 5-7 years to roughly 18-36 months. Since HBM is permanently integrated on the package, you replace it too. Heat from bigger models and workloads accelerates burnout, forcing ongoing refreshes.
Even if supply eases, manufacturers will keep producing HBM, DDR, LPDDR, NAND, etc. This creates a continuous revenue base with upside from new tech and custom solutions.
HBM and HBF stay tied directly to the GPU on the same package, so we stay bullish there (and on $SNDK/Kioxia even if DDR eases). LPDDR is now foundational system memory for Nvidia AI servers. New products and HBM should drive the majority of sustained upside through the AI buildout.
Unlimited memory demand from AI agents, millions of daily chats, and RAG keeps NAND strong. Software optimization might trim some NAND needs but will not hit HBM the same way. Bullish on memory controllers too. $SIMO is my pick there as the brains behind NAND.
Other HBM applications in robotics and AVs have barely started scaling. Micron's CEO highlighted this in the last earnings call. Plenty of unknown upside left.
Ultimately, if supply meets demand, I see two paths for ASPs:
1. Sustainable, stable demand with continued (slower but steadier) increases from tech developments, custom solutions, new products, and shorter compute lifecycles.
2. Prices lower but not to historical lows. More units produced balance revenue, with EPS growth from hotter new products.
Worse cases feel like a far-off 2030+ story.
When you see those estimates on $MU from Morgan Stanley, I don't see how anyone would panic sell.
I mean look at these estimates:
Q1 2027 operating income: $54.1 billion
Q2 2027 operating income: $60.2 billion
Q3 2027 operating income: $67.9 billion
Current market cap: $959 billion. They will earn a significant portion of their market cap in the coming few years, let alone the terminal value of their cumulative earnings in the period after.
AI demand is not going anywhere, and what happens to memory demand once physical AI hits momentum? When basic LLMs already require astronomic amounts of memory, just imagine how much memory robotics will require.
$MU $SNDK $SKHY $DRAM $EWY