What happened
Shares of Micron Technology (MU 2.28%) jumped on Tuesday, rising nearly 6% as of 3 p.m. EST.
The tech stock's gain followed a note from Mizuho analyst Vijay Rakesh, who reiterated a buy rating and a $92 12-month price target for the semiconductor stock.
Image source: Getty Images.
So what
With the Trump administration recently adding Chinese smartphone-marker Xiaomi to a U.S. military blacklist, there have been concerns from some investors about how this could impact Micron, since Xiaomi is a customer of the semiconductor company. But Rakesh told investors that the blacklist isn't having a significant negative impact on Micron since the list is only related to products with military applications.
Moreover, Rakesh said a recent conversation with Micron's CFO convinced him Micron's DRAM (dynamic random access memory) is "already turning a corner" thanks to sequential pricing improvements.
Now what
Rakesh believes Micron is well positioned for further improvement in its DRAM business thanks to capital expenditure spending discipline and increased handset-server demand.
The analyst's comments confirm sentiment from Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra in the company's fiscal first-quarter earnings call on Jan. 7.
"We are excited about the strengthening DRAM industry fundamentals," Mehrotra said. "For the first time in our history, Micron is simultaneously leading on DRAM and NAND technologies, and we are in an excellent position to benefit from accelerating digital transformation of the global economy fueled by AI, 5G, cloud, and the intelligent edge."
