What happened
Shares of semiconductor specialist Micron Technology (MU +11.37%) jumped on Monday, rising as much as 5.6%. As of 1:15 p.m. ET, however, the stock was up about 2.4%.
The tech stock's gain builds on its momentum over the last 30 days. Furthermore, investors are digesting the Friday afternoon announcement from the company of the validation of a new memory product for artificial intelligence and 5G innovation for smartphones.
Image source: Getty Images.
So what
Over the last 30 days, Micron stock has gained about 24%. The stock's gain on Monday may simply represent a continuation of this momentum. But the stock's gain on Monday is also likely driven by an upbeat day in the overall market. The S&P 500 was up 0.4% at the time of this writing. In addition, product news is likely also giving the stock a lift.
In response to the excitement around the stock, Micron was added to Evercore ISI's "top picks" list last week, noting an expectation for improvement in memory pricing. Citi analyst Christopher Danley also noted that he expects pricing to be a catalyst for the company.
Danley's 12-month price target of $120 for Micron stock impressively sits more than 40% higher than where the stock is trading today.
Also likely helping the stock on Monday was an announcement from Micron on Friday afternoon that the company's "low-power double data rate 5X (LPDDR5X) DRAM for MediaTek's new Dimensity 9000 5G flagship chipset for smartphones" was validated by MediaTek.
Now what
"Micron is the first semiconductor company to sample and validate this fastest, most advanced mobile memory in the industry and has shipped the first batch of samples of LPDDR5X built on its first-to-market 1α (1-alpha) node," the company said in its Friday press release. "Designed for high-end and flagship smartphones, Micron's LPDDR5X allows the smartphone ecosystem to unlock the next wave of data-intensive applications powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and 5G innovation."
