NEW YORK, December 28, 2025, 18:15 ET — Market closed
- Micron ended Friday down 0.6% at $284.79. 1
- Shares are hovering near a 52-week high after a strong run tied to AI-related memory demand. 2
- Investors are watching Fed minutes due Tuesday, Dec. 30, as year-end positioning keeps trading thin. 3
Micron Technology (MU) shares ended the last U.S. trading session down 0.6% at $284.79. 1
The move matters now because Micron has been one of the market’s clearest expressions of the rebound in AI-linked chip trades, with investors leaning on expectations that memory prices stay firm as data-center demand rises. 4
Macro risks have also moved back to the front of the screen, with minutes from the Federal Reserve’s Dec. 9-10 meeting due Tuesday and traders focused on the path of interest rates into 2026. 3
Wall Street closed nearly unchanged on Friday in a light-volume, post-Christmas session, and the main indexes finished slightly lower. “We’re just simply catching our breath today after the holiday,” said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group. 5
Micron’s pullback left the stock below its 52-week high of $290.87, after a year that has seen the shares rise more than 160%, according to LSEG data cited by Reuters. 2
The recent rally traces back to Micron’s quarterly outlook on Dec. 17, when the company forecast fiscal second-quarter adjusted profit of $8.42 per share, plus or minus 20 cents, versus analysts’ estimate of $4.78, according to LSEG data. 4
Micron also projected revenue of $18.70 billion, plus or minus $400 million, above analysts’ estimate of $14.20 billion, LSEG data showed. 4
Executives said the company would raise its 2026 capital spending plan to $20 billion from an earlier $18 billion estimate and was negotiating multiyear contracts with key customers. 4
At the center of the thesis is high-bandwidth memory, or HBM — a high-speed memory chip used in AI servers to move data quickly between processors and memory. 4
Micron is one of three major HBM suppliers alongside Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, Reuters reported earlier this month, a concentration that investors see as supporting pricing power during a supply squeeze. 4
Analysts have warned that memory remains a cyclical business, with pricing swings that can reverse quickly if supply catches up, even as some firms describe the current upturn as longer-lasting than typical cycles. 6
Before the next session, investors will be looking at year-end portfolio adjustments, which Reuters has flagged as a potential source of volatility when light trading volumes can exaggerate moves. 3
Rates remain a key swing factor for chip valuations, and Reuters’ week-ahead preview highlighted Fed minutes on Tuesday, Dec. 30, as the main scheduled event that could shape expectations for 2026 rate cuts. 3
Micron shareholders also face a calendar marker on Monday: the company said its quarterly dividend of $0.115 per share is payable Jan. 14 to holders of record as of the close of business on Dec. 29. 7
On the charts, traders have been watching whether the stock can reclaim the $290 area near the 52-week high, while Friday’s low around $283 has become a near-term line in the sand. 8
The broader “Santa Claus rally” window — the last five trading days of the year and the first two of the new year — runs through Jan. 5, and traders often treat it as a quick read on risk appetite heading into January. 5
