Micron's 633.50 Euro Record: Why the Memory Boom Is Far From Over

Micron hits 52-week high after launching world's largest SSD; HBM market sold out through 2026 with record revenue and analyst price targets up to $1,000.

Micron Technology has delivered a week for the history books. The stock shot to a new 52-week high of 633.50 euros on Friday, capping a weekly surge of roughly 43%. The immediate catalyst? The company began shipping the Micron 6600 ION SSD — a 245-terabyte drive that is the largest commercially available storage device in the world, taking up 80% less space in a server rack than traditional hard drives. For hyperscalers like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon, such a product is the difference between scaling AI databases and hitting a physical ceiling.

But the 6600 ION is merely the latest symptom of a far deeper structural shortage. The entire high-bandwidth memory (HBM) market is sold out through 2026, and Micron's entire HBM4 production for that year is already under binding contracts. Customers are now signing three- to five-year supply agreements — a seismic shift from the quarterly or annual deals that once defined the industry. The bottleneck is so severe that meaningful new capacity is not expected to arrive until 2028 at the earliest.

The financial results reflect this tectonic shift. In Micron's second fiscal quarter of 2026, it posted record revenue, gross margin, earnings per share, and free cash flow. Revenue hit $23.86 billion, a 196% jump from a year earlier. The firm is guiding for third-quarter revenue of around $33.5 billion with an 81% gross margin. Market researcher Gartner describes the environment as "Memflation" — the most extreme pricing cycle in memory in years. DRAM prices are forecast to rise 125% this year, NAND flash by 234%, and the global memory market could expand from roughly $216 billion in 2025 to over $630 billion in 2026.

Analysts have taken notice. Mizuho lifted its price target to $740 with an Outperform rating, Melius Research initiated at Buy with a $700 target, and DA Davidson went even bigger with a Buy and $1,000 target. Despite the blistering rally, the stock trades at just 11 times forward earnings — cheaper than most AI names. In a market where valuation multiples have stretched into the stratosphere, Micron offers a rare combination of growth and value.

The runaway share price has naturally revived chatter about a stock split. Micron has split three times before, but not since 2000. There has been no official guidance from management, and the rise of fractional-share trading has arguably made splits less necessary for retail accessibility. Still, investors are looking to the J.P. Morgan Global Technology Conference on May 20, where the company could address capital-allocation priorities. The next quarterly report is due around June 23.

Not everyone is unreservedly bullish. On Thursday, a note from Bernstein sent the stock briefly 3% lower, warning of dislocations in the spot market for memory chips. Spot prices have soared to levels where some device makers and module houses can no longer keep up, raising the risk of a swift reversal. That remains the most immediate downside risk for a stock that has already multiplied more than sevenfold over the past twelve months.