Micron's Taichung Opening Comes as the Stock Sheds 15% in a Week

Micron Technology is expanding its manufacturing footprint in Asia at the very moment its share price is taking a beating. The US memory chipmaker has opened a new facility in Taichung, Taiwan, dedicated to advanced packaging and testing — the steps that sit at the heart of producing high-bandwidth memory (HBM). The plant is meant to shore up capacity for high-performance memory, demand for which is being driven by data centres and graphics-heavy applications.

The timing is awkward. Micron's stock fell 5.9% on Friday to close at EUR 781.80, capping a week in which the shares lost 15% of their value. The retreat was part of a broad sell-off across the semiconductor sector, with market watchers pointing to mounting doubts about whether spending on artificial intelligence can be sustained. The stock now sits roughly 29% below its 52-week high of EUR 1,103.80.

Chinese Rival Adds to the Pressure

Sector-wide jitters were compounded by news from China. ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) has made significant progress on a denser 4F² DRAM cell design, according to company president Cao Kanyu. The Chinese memory maker also plans to bring a corresponding DDR5-RDIMM server memory product to market by the end of the year. Those disclosures have fuelled fears of intensifying competition for established producers such as Micron.

A Labour Dispute Brewing in Taiwan

Back on the ground in Taiwan, the new Taichung plant opened against a backdrop of unrest over pay. President Lai Ching-te called on Micron's management and its workforce to negotiate in good faith, intervening in a simmering dispute over the company's bonus model at its Taoyuan production site. The union there has already voted in favour of strike action but has not yet set a date. It has called members to a rally on 19 October, stressing that the gathering will not constitute a strike.

Legal Clarity and a Larger Buyback

On the legal front, Micron has drawn a line under one dispute. Under a settlement, the company will pay Netlist USD 30 million quarterly over five years, for a total of USD 600 million.

Capital-market preparations are also moving forward. Earlier this month the board of directors approved a USD 33 billion increase to the share buyback programme, lifting the total authorised amount to USD 35.16 billion. Repurchases may begin on 9 December 2026, subject to the conditions attached to funding under the US CHIPS Act.

Separately, mandatory filings with the SEC dated 13 October disclosed a series of transactions by Micron executives and board members. The Form 4 submissions cover share awards, the vesting of contractual entitlements and transactions for tax withholding, and include filings related to chief executive Sanjay Mehrotra. Micron also published the risk factors chapter of its annual report on Form 10-K for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026.

A Bullish Voice in a Nervous Market

Not everyone has turned cautious. On 7 October, D.A. Davidson analyst Gil Luria rated the stock a buy and raised his price target to USD 3,000 from USD 2,100.

For all the short-term volatility, the investment in Taichung makes clear that Micron is pressing ahead with the expansion of its core business.