New York, Jan 18, 2026, 08:22 EST — The market has closed.
- Micron shares jumped 7.8% on Friday, closing at $362.75.
- Micron kicked off construction on a $100 billion megafab in New York and revealed a large director share buy.
- Attention turns to Tuesday’s reopening, upcoming trade-policy news, and earnings from the chip sector later this week.
Micron Technology shares jumped 7.8% on Friday, closing at $362.75. The stock surged after a week of gains, driven by news of a significant U.S. factory expansion and renewed insider buying activity.
Wall Street was closed Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and now traders prepare for Tuesday’s session with chip stocks taking center stage as earnings season picks up. Anthony Saglimbene, chief market strategist at Ameriprise Financial, noted, “We’re at the start of the earnings season.” 1
Micron announced it will break ground on a $100 billion memory manufacturing complex in Clay, New York, featuring up to four fabs. Production is slated to begin in 2030. CEO Sanjay Mehrotra called it “building leading-edge memory at scale in the United States.” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang weighed in, saying “advanced memory has become essential” as AI expands. 2
A regulatory filing revealed that director Teyin Mark Liu purchased 23,200 shares of Micron on Jan. 13-14, paying weighted average prices near $337. This boosted his direct holding to 25,910 shares. 3
A Nasdaq.com report put the purchase price at $337.14 per share, noting Micron’s stock hit a high of $365.81 on Friday. 4
Trade policy continues to weigh on the semiconductor sector. South Korea’s trade minister commented Saturday that the new U.S. proclamation, which levies a 25% tariff on certain advanced computing chips, would have limited immediate effect since memory chips were left out of the initial phase. Still, he cautioned it’s “not yet time to be reassured.” The White House specified that the first-stage tariffs target high-end AI chips like Nvidia’s H200 and AMD’s MI325X. 5
Micron manufactures DRAM, the primary memory powering computers and phones, along with NAND flash, which is used for data storage, marketing these products under its Micron and Crucial brands. The company also offers high-bandwidth memory (HBM), a stacked, ultra-fast memory type designed for AI-focused data-center systems. 6
The mix matters because the stock now serves as a stand-in for market expectations on how much AI expansion will strain memory supply, beyond just headline chips. Following Friday’s jump, eyes will be on whether MU can stay above the mid-$350s once trading picks up again.
That run-up, however, amps up the risk. Memory prices can dive fast if supply eases, and any widening of chip tariffs or stricter import rules might unsettle a sector relying heavily on policy backing for local production.
Tuesday marks the next test as U.S. markets reopen after the holiday. Then, on Jan. 22, Intel is set to release its earnings after the bell and follow up with a call the same day — a key moment for chip stocks beyond just PCs and processors. 7
