Micron Stock: Is It A Buy Ahead Of Earnings On December 17?
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Micron Technology (MU) shares gained nearly 5% on Wednesday as investors prepare for the company’s fiscal Q1 2026 earnings report scheduled for December 17. The stock recently reached a new all-time high after surging more than 100% over the past six months.
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Wall Street expects Micron to report earnings of $3.93 per share for the quarter. That compares to $1.79 per share in the same period last year. Revenue projections stand at $12.82 billion, representing over 45% year-over-year growth.
The buildup to earnings has sparked a wave of analyst upgrades. Top firms including Stifel, Mizuho, and UBS raised their price targets on the stock. The analysts pointed to improving memory pricing trends and stronger demand for high bandwidth memory as key drivers.
Analyst Optimism Builds
HSBC analyst Ricky Seo initiated coverage this week with a Buy rating and a $330 price target. Seo dismissed concerns about financial risks from new competitors and the Stargate Project. He argued the market is underestimating benefits from rising commodity DRAM prices.
HSBC believes Micron can capture 25-30% of the enterprise SSD market by fiscal 2027. That’s up from 15% in Q2 2025. The firm expects operating profits to grow at a 125% annual rate from 2025 to 2027.
Deutsche Bank’s Melissa Weathers raised her price target from $200 to $280. Weathers sees Micron well-positioned to benefit from the next memory market cycle. High-bandwidth memory is driving changes that could support higher valuations.
Deutsche Bank increased its full-year 2026 earnings estimate by almost 26% to $20.63 per share. The firm also raised its revenue forecast by 12% to $59.66 billion.
Memory Market Dynamics
The memory chip industry is experiencing supply tightness. Micron’s fiscal 2025 revenue jumped 49% as DRAM selling prices increased. Higher pricing has improved margins, pushing adjusted earnings per share to $8.29 for the fiscal year that ended August 28.
Management expects limited DRAM supply to continue next year. Multiple companies manufacture memory chips, but demand from data centers has created a shortage. This dynamic has sent memory prices soaring.
The stock currently trades at around 15 times fiscal 2026 earnings estimates. HSBC’s earnings projections for 2025 through 2027 run 23%, 44%, and 29% higher than Wall Street consensus.
Wall Street Ratings
However, the recent rally has pushed shares above that average target. This suggests limited near-term upside despite continued bullish sentiment. The stock has gained 85% over the last three months.
The memory chip market remains highly competitive. DRAM is essentially a commodity product with fluctuations driven by supply and demand. These historical swings make Micron a challenging stock to analyze.
Analysts cite supply discipline across the memory market as margins recover. The industry downturn appears to be bottoming out. Data center demand continues to drive growth, with companies racing to build AI infrastructure that requires substantial memory capacity.
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