Micron Technology (MU -2.21%) has been one of the biggest stock market winners in recent years. This is thanks to the company's role in the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution. Though Micron has been around for decades, serving customers with memory and storage, this offering has truly stood out as AI took off.
As a result, Micron has seen its revenue soar in the triple digits, and demand for memory is so high that it's led to tight supply. Meanwhile, investors have piled into Micron, sending the stock soaring -- It's advanced a mind-boggling 1,400% over the past three years.
And now, a fresh catalyst may be right around the corner, on Sept. 30. Should you buy Micron stock before that date? Let's find out.
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Micron earnings have taken off during the AI boom
Before answering that question, let's take a closer look at the full Micron story. As mentioned, the company isn't a new kid on the block; it's been around since 1978, offering it the opportunity to progressively grow earnings over time. But revenue and profit gained significant momentum in recent years, amid the AI boom.
MU Revenue (Annual) data by YCharts
When you think of AI chips, you may think of the graphics processing units (GPUs) or other similar chips that power processes. These are logic chips, made by companies such as Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices. Another kind of chip is also needed, and these are chips providing various types of memory and storage capacity. Micron is a maker of these, offering DRAM working memory, NAND storage memory, and the super-fast memory known as HBM or high bandwidth memory. HBM is particularly useful in AI.
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Key Data Points
In recent quarters, demand for memory has been so high that Micron and other memory makers haven't been able to serve all of it. But Micron is making progress on capturing as much of this demand as possible through new strategic customer agreements (SCAs). These SCAs allow Micron to secure orders -- and customers to secure capacity -- over a five-year term. Micron says that it's just completed 16 SCAs with customers in the data center, consumer, and auto spaces.
These agreements are positive as they offer the company and investors greater visibility -- and so far, the situation is looking bright. Customers clearly are opting to sign these long-term agreements for supply from Micron. And the latest earnings report shows ongoing strong growth. In the period, revenue surged more than 300% to a record $41 billion, and gross margin reached 84% -- this even beats Nvidia's impressive 70% or higher gross margin.
Investors are concerned about billion-dollar investments in AI
All of this is very positive, but AI-related stocks have faced some headwinds in recent times amid concern about the depth and pace of investment in the infrastructure build-out. Tech giants aim to spend more than $700 billion on the build-out this year. Though Micron has climbed in the triple digits since the start of January, over the past three months, it's slipped about 7%.
Now, let's consider the catalyst coming up on Sept. 30, and that's the company's fiscal fourth-quarter 2026 earnings report. Investors will be eager to see whether Micron keeps up the momentum and will look for further comments on the company's management of the tight memory supply -- and any guidance for the upcoming year.
Given the comments on high demand from players across the industry, there's reason to be optimistic about Micron's report. Does this mean you should buy the stock now before it takes off?
Micron is a solid buy, considering its role in the AI market, its general earnings growth over time, and its current valuation. Even though the stock has soared, it still trades at a very reasonable 6.5x forward earnings estimates.
But you don't have to rush to get in on this top AI stock ahead of the Sept. 30 earnings report. Even if the stock climbs in the next trading session, the movement won't make much of a difference for the investor who holds on for a number of years. That's why it's perfectly fine to take your time when investing -- and buy Micron, or another quality stock, before or after its next earnings report.
