Micron surges more than 30% on week as memory chip rally goes parabolic

Micron Technology Stocks have been on fire this week amid a global memory chip shortage, with momentum driving stocks into growing excitement in the semiconductor sector.

Shares were up almost 14% to $734 as of 2:20 PM ET on Friday. The stock has gained nearly 35% in the week and more than 80% in the past month.

Micron is having its best week since December 2008, when it was trading below $5 per share in the wake of the Great Recession. The company’s market capitalization is now over $820 billion, according to LSEG.

Micron is not alone among chip makers. shares AMD The company’s market cap rose 24% this week as it crossed the $700 billion threshold.

Intel It’s up 24% on the week and has more than doubled in the past month on the CPU maker’s widely touted comeback.

Demand for memory chips is emerging as a hallmark of the current phase of AI development, with total capex from hyperscalers likely to exceed $1 trillion by the end of next year, according to Bank of America and Evercore.

While graphics processing units (GPUs) have so far been the hardware focus of the AI ​​structure, memory, storage and CPUs are increasingly becoming the focus of attention.

While memory manufacturers’ prices and margins are expanding due to shortages of memory chips, hyperscalers are bemoaning cost increases for end-user goods and services.

DRAM and NAND are the two most in-demand memory types. DRAM is faster and more accurate; flash-based NAND is slightly slower and more reliable. Both are necessary for AI processing.

According to numerous research reports, Micron, Samsung and SK Hynix together produce more than 90% of the world’s DRAM.

South Korean memory chip makers like Micron were also on a tear. Samsung joined the trillion-dollar valuation club this week along with the following companies: Apple, Alphabet And Microsoft.

Reuters reported that SK Hynix has received a number of offers from global technology firms looking to invest in new, memory-specific production lines to increase production reported on Friday.

One of the steps was an equipment financing deal for the company’s customers’ ultraviolet lithography machines, the news agency reported.

“MU continues to be well positioned in the memory landscape with leading DRAM nodes helping to reduce costs year over year, while NAND sees increased layer counts leading to better costs and increasing wafer capacity,” Mizuho analyst Vijay Rakesh wrote in a research report this week.

Researchers say Micron has been taking a larger share of retail business overall over the last few months. Net purchases reached a two-year high in mid-April, according to Vanda Research.

This is despite the fact that overall stock buying by retail investors in recent months has been slightly softer than in the past few years, Vanda strategist Viraj Patel told CNBC on Friday. “So it could be argued that Micron has a much larger share of retail flow and interest,” he added.