Micron will report third-quarter earnings after the bell today, and the market is waiting to see whether the numbers can support a stock that has already surged 727% over the past 12 months. Since January, Micron is up 270%, but the shares are now heading into a report while chip stocks have been broadly hammered this week on worries about AI spending and implementation.
That is why the Micron stock price is being watched so closely. Analysts expect Micron to post earnings per share of $20.39 on revenue of $35.5 billion for the quarter, figures that would mark sharp gains from a year earlier. The EPS estimate would be up 967% from the $1.91 Micron reported in the same quarter last year, while revenue would rise 281% from $9.3 billion.
There is a lot of momentum behind those estimates. The memory industry continues to benefit from the global AI build-out, and data center construction is driving strong demand for both DRAM and NAND chips. DRAM is a key component in AI servers, while NAND stores data that is not needed right away. Micron's DRAM revenue is projected to climb 288% to $27.5 billion, and NAND revenue is expected to reach $7.7 billion, a 256% increase.
Micron's margins are also expected to show just how tight the market has become. Adjusted gross margins could hit 81.83%, a level that would underscore how pricing power has shifted in favor of memory makers. Micron and Anthropic also announced a strategic agreement under which Micron will supply Anthropic with memory and storage chips, and Micron will invest an undisclosed sum in Anthropic.
But the same shortage that has lifted Micron is also starting to spread pain through consumer technology. Video game consoles were among the first devices to see price increases, and Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo each raised the prices of their systems. Apple has already said it will need to raise prices on some of its devices, and industry analysts have warned that laptop and smartphone sales could weaken as buyers pull back.
That leaves tonight's report with an unusually high bar. Micron has already delivered a huge share run, and investors now need proof that demand from AI and data centers can keep up with expectations rather than fuel a setback in a week when the broader chip trade has already turned nervous.
