New York, Jan 15, 2026, 07:30 (EST) — Premarket
- Micron shares climbed in premarket trading, boosted by strength in semiconductor stocks following positive cues from Taiwan’s chip supply chain.
- Debate over the duration of tight supply and elevated prices continues to drive the memory-chip maker’s stock.
- Investors are eyeing U.S. data and Micron’s shareholder meeting for clues on what’s next.
Micron Technology shares climbed 3.1% to $343.67 in premarket trade Thursday, rebounding after a 1.4% drop the day before. (Public)
This move is significant because Micron has turned into a quick play on the memory shortage fueling the AI surge. High-bandwidth memory (HBM) — the stacked DRAM positioned near AI chips for rapid data transfer — remains the scarcest segment of the market, and even slight changes in sentiment can slam the stock.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s better-than-expected quarter and upbeat spending outlook set the tone for chip stocks. U.S. index futures edged up ahead of weekly jobless claims at 8:30 a.m. ET and more bank earnings. Chipmaking tool companies surged early, with Applied Materials climbing 6.2%, while Lam Research and KLA both gained over 5%. (Reuters)
SK Hynix, a key competitor, announced plans to speed up its capacity expansion amid “surging memory demand pressures global supply.” The company will bring forward the launch of a new fab and begin wafer production next month at another facility focused on HBM output. “We have to support memory consumption for AI infrastructure,” said SK Hynix America CEO Sungsoo Ryu in an interview with Reuters. TrendForce data showed some memory products surged more than 300% in Q4 compared to the previous year. (Reuters)
Retail investors have been piling into the trade as well. According to Vanda Research data cited by Reuters, January saw significant inflows into U.S. storage and memory stocks. Steve Sosnick of Interactive Brokers noted that while Micron’s top spot isn’t surprising, SanDisk ranking fourth “tells us that it is more than simply a coincidence.” Micron has surged 18% so far in 2026, after a 240% jump in 2025, Reuters reported. (Reuters)
Micron’s calendar flags a potential headline risk later Thursday with its annual shareholder meeting set for 10:00 a.m. Mountain Standard Time, held virtually. Up for votes are eight director elections, an advisory executive pay vote, a proposed charter amendment on officer liability protections, auditor ratification, and a shareholder proposal to reduce the threshold for calling special meetings. (SEC)
There’s a catch for bulls: history shows that shortages often flip into gluts. If major suppliers ramp up capacity too aggressively, or if spending on AI infrastructure slows down sooner than anticipated, pricing power could vanish—and margins would likely take a hit.
