NEW YORK, Jan 3, 2026, 09:27 ET — Market closed
- Micron shares ended Friday up 10.5% at $315.42 after a Bernstein target hike.
- The rally put AI-linked memory pricing and supply constraints back at the center of the trade.
- Traders now focus on next week’s U.S. jobs data and whether MU can hold key levels into Monday’s open.
Micron Technology, Inc. (MU.O) shares jumped 10.5% on Friday, closing at $315.42, after a Bernstein price-target increase helped propel the memory-chip maker higher in the market’s first session of 2026.
The move matters because Micron’s earnings are tightly linked to the direction of memory-chip prices, and investors have been leaning into the view that AI data centers are tightening supply faster than the industry can add capacity.
Memory has a long history of boom-and-bust cycles, so even small shifts in expectations for pricing and supply can produce outsized moves in both estimates and valuations.
The stock traded between $294.86 and $315.60 during the session, according to daily pricing data. 1
Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon said he sees “the largest pricing upcycle in the memory sector” ahead, and the brokerage raised its price target to $330 from $270 while keeping an outperform rating, Barchart reported. 2
DRAM, short for dynamic random access memory, is the high-speed “working memory” used in servers and PCs. Micron is also one of three major suppliers of high-bandwidth memory, or HBM — stacked chips used alongside AI processors — with SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics. 3
The Micron move came alongside broader strength in chip shares; the iShares Semiconductor ETF gained 4.2% on Friday. Western Digital rose about 9% and Sandisk gained about 16% in the same session, Barron’s reported. 4
Micron’s most recent quarterly outlook, issued in mid-December, projected fiscal second-quarter revenue of $18.7 billion plus or minus $400 million, with non-GAAP earnings of $8.42 per share plus or minus 20 cents. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.115 per share, payable Jan. 14.
Before next session, investors will parse U.S. labor-market signals next week, including the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey report on Jan. 7 and the Employment Situation report for December 2025 on Jan. 9, the Labor Department’s schedule shows. 5
Micron has not confirmed the date for its next earnings report, but market calendars tracked by Yahoo Finance list March 18 after the close. 6
After Friday’s surge, traders will watch whether the stock holds above the $300 level when U.S. markets reopen Monday and whether incoming pricing signals keep supporting the tight-supply narrative behind the rally.
