Micron Technology (MU 0.58%) had a strong start to the holiday week, with shares rising 8% through market close Dec. 24.
That continues an excellent year for the memory and storage company, which has seen its stock increase 240% so far in 2025. There's a specific growth catalyst behind Micron's latest surge, and it bodes well for shareholders.
Image source: Micron Technology.
Micron just announced record-breaking earnings
Last week, Micron released the earnings report for the first quarter of its 2026 fiscal year; the quarter ended Nov. 27. The company had its best quarter yet, with record revenue of $13.6 billion, up 57% year over year. Micron's bottom line was also significantly higher, with adjusted earnings per share (EPS) at $4.78 compared to $1.79 a year ago, a 167% increase.
The results demonstrate the growing demand for Micron's memory products, which include high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), and NAND flash memory. All these products have become crucial to satisfy the memory needs of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers. Investors were excited by the news and pushed the stock up, continuing into this week.
NASDAQ: MU
Key Data Points
Even after its success this year, Micron isn't particularly expensive. It currently trades at 27 times trailing earnings. For comparison, Nvidia trades at 47 times trailing earnings.
If you're looking for reasonably priced AI stocks, Micron is worth considering. It's still somewhat risky, given the company's dependence on AI. But with revenue and profitability both growing quickly, Micron could be in line for another successful year in 2026.
