Easy come, easy go. Micron (MU 3.01%) stock briefly touched a new all-time high yesterday after analysts at Melius Research boosted the stock with a buy rating and a $700 price target, citing "unusual" demand for computer memory chips to support artificial intelligence. Micron stock is falling back a bit today, however, down 2.6% at 10 a.m. ET.
And here's the interesting part: It's also because of AI -- OpenAI.
Image source: Getty Images.
What's OpenAI got to do with Micron stock?
OpenAI missed targets for new users and revenue in 2025, according to a just-released Wall Street Journal report. OpenAI itself calls the report "ridiculous," but investors remain nervous.
And no wonder. Rightly or wrongly, the Journal reports that OpenAI's business is slowing down, but costs are out of control as OpenAI continues buying all the AI chips it can get hold of. That may not make sense if it's true that OpenAI failed to hit one billion weekly active users for ChatGPT last year, that ChatGPT revenue growth was also subpar, and that users are jumping ship to other AIs such as Anthropic and Alphabet's (GOOG +0.05%) Gemini -- as WSJ avers.
NASDAQ: MU
Key Data Points
Wall Street still loves Micron stock
And yet... and yet ... read between the lines here, and what do you see? OpenAI's business may not be going great guns, but it's still spending freely, buying AI chips, buying memory to help those chips run better.
This may not be great news for OpenAI investors, but it still sounds pretty terrific for Micron.
Meanwhile on Wall Street, two more analysts chimed in with buy endorsements for Micron -- TD Cowen, which says Micron stock is worth $600, and DA Davidson, which thinks Micron is a $1,000 stock. Both see memory prices remaining higher for longer.
Both agree Micron stock is a buy.
