New York, Jan 31, 2026, 17:45 (ET) — Market closed
- Micron closed sharply lower Friday following a volatile session and heavy trading volume
- Investors are balancing rising memory prices with lofty expectations for AI-related hardware
- Next week’s slate includes megacap earnings and crucial U.S. labor data that could shift chip sector sentiment
Micron Technology dropped $20.91, or 4.8%, closing Friday at $414.88, after the shares swung between $455.50 and $407.13 on heavy volume exceeding 50 million shares. In late after-hours trading, the stock rebounded around 1.75% to $422.13. (Yahoo Finance)
The pullback sets a jittery tone for Monday’s open. Investors face a packed week of earnings from Alphabet, Amazon, and Advanced Micro Devices, following Microsoft’s cautionary note on the pace of returns from heavy AI spending. “The onus is going to be on them to deliver,” said Jim Baird of Plante Moran Financial Advisors. Sid Vaidya at TD Wealth added that AI infrastructure capex “will not see any letup.” (Reuters)
This dynamic is crucial for Micron, positioned upstream of data-center construction. While software stocks have stumbled, chip and storage companies are emerging as clearer beneficiaries of the AI boom. Memory players like SanDisk and Western Digital have seen notable gains in January, according to a Reuters report. (Reuters)
Signs of demand are emerging among customers—and in profit margins. Apple CEO Tim Cook noted the company continues to see “market pricing for memory increasing significantly.” SK hynix reported that PC and mobile clients are “adjusting purchase volumes” following a sharp rise in memory chip prices. Samsung Electronics cautioned that expansion will stay limited through 2026 and 2027. Meanwhile, research firms have highlighted weaker outlooks for PCs and smartphones as costs rise. (Reuters)
SanDisk on Thursday forecasted profits and sales that beat estimates and renewed a crucial supply deal, banking on AI-driven storage demand. CEO David Goeckeler didn’t mince words: “Customers prefer supply over price.” (Reuters)
Micron is backing up that story with big capacity moves. The company announced earlier this week it plans to spend $24 billion on a cutting-edge wafer fab in Singapore over the next ten years, aiming to boost NAND production. It also confirmed a separate high-bandwidth memory (HBM) packaging facility in Singapore will come online by 2027; HBM is a faster memory type used in AI chips. TrendForce analyst Bryan Ao expects contract prices for enterprise solid-state drives to jump 55% to 60% as demand outpaces supply. (Reuters)
Insider activity grabbed attention as well. Micron’s chief legal officer, Ray Michael Charles, filed a sale of 12,268 shares on Jan. 27, with weighted average prices mostly ranging from roughly $401 to $416. The transaction was made under a Rule 10b5-1 plan, a pre-arranged trading strategy. (Securities and Exchange Commission)
That doesn’t ensure an easy path. Friday’s swings showed just how quickly fast money can pull out, particularly when the wider market turns on stocks that barely miss lofty expectations.
The downside is straightforward. Memory markets are cyclical, and if major cloud buyers pull back or rising chip costs force device makers to reduce memory use, pricing power can evaporate fast. An earlier-than-expected supply boost would have the same effect.
Traders are watching capex discussions from major cloud players closely, while also scanning for new evidence of contract-price pressure in DRAM and NAND.
The next major event on the calendar is the U.S. employment report for January, set for release at 8:30 a.m. ET on Feb. 6. Nasdaq data currently puts Micron’s earnings report date at March 19. (Bls)
