Updated 2 min read
Micron is no longer just leading the chip rally. It is crashing the megacap leaderboard.
The memory chipmaker topped $1 trillion in market value Tuesday while closing at its 28th record high of the year. The stock gained 19%, posting its best daily return since November 2011. Micron is now the 11th-largest US public company after a post-March surge that has dwarfed the biggest names in tech.
The move came after UBS more than tripled its price target on Micron to a Street-high $1,625, arguing that AI has structurally changed the market for memory chips. The target implies a market cap of roughly $1.8 trillion, which would put Micron ahead of Tesla (TSLA), Meta Platforms (META), and Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A, BRK-B).
That’s the re-rating case behind Tuesday’s move. Micron has long traded like a cyclical memory stock, with investors bracing for boom-and-bust pricing in DRAM and NAND. UBS is arguing that AI demand is changing that setup by giving Micron more visibility into demand and a smoother earnings path.
The chart shows how far the market has already moved in that direction.
Since the March 30 market low, Micron has surged nearly 180% — far ahead of every company larger than it by market value. Broadcom (AVGO) and Alphabet (GOOGL) are the closest on that leaderboard, each up a little more than 40%.
Micron has also added roughly $650 billion in market value over that stretch — nearly matching Amazon’s (AMZN) gain, despite starting from a much smaller base.
The rally is not only a Micron story.
The PHLX Semiconductor Index (^SOX) also closed at its 32nd record of the year Tuesday, while both Micron and the chip index have climbed in seven of the past eight weeks.
For Micron, the next test is whether buyers defend the old highs in the low-$800s on any pullback. Hold that zone, and the $1 trillion move still looks like a breakout. Lose it, and Tuesday’s milestone starts to look more like a failed push.
Jared Blikre is the global markets and data editor for Yahoo Finance. Follow him on X at @SPYJared or email him at jaredblikre@yahooinc.com.
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