Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) reported its fiscal first-quarter 2026 results yesterday after the market closed and delivered a record-setting performance, while also trouncing Wall Street’s estimates.
Across all aspects of Micron’s business — DRAM, NAND, high-bandwidth memory (HBM), and data centers — the company saw unprecedented growth. Revenue, operating cash flows, and margins of all business units expanded, driven by strong demand for HBM and other products utilized in AI applications. Micron also significantly raised its outview far above consensus expectations.
Despite ongoing concerns about an AI bubble, these results demonstrate robust underlying demand, indicating the AI boom remains firmly intact.
Record Results Highlight AI-Driven Demand
The company generated record operating cash flow of $8.41 billion and achieved margin expansion across all business units, guiding for second-quarter revenue of approximately $18.7 billion and adjusted earnings of about $8.42 per share.
Micron’s performance set several company records. Revenue of $13.64 billion, up 57% year-over-year from $8.71 billion, was a record high, while adjusted earnings reached $4.78 per share, substantially exceeding analyst estimates of $3.95 per share. CEO Sanjay Mehrotra noted that AI demand acceleration fueled its results, with the company fully selling out its 2026 HBM supply, including advanced HBM4 nodes.
Micron forecasts the HBM market will grow at a 40% compound annual rate through 2028, reaching approximately $100 billion, almost triple the $35 billion in 2025.
The memory chipcreater reported GAAP net income of $5.24 billion, or $4.60 per share, and operating cash flow of $8.41 billion. Micron also increased its fiscal 2026 capital expconcludeiture plan to $20 billion from a prior $18 billion estimate to expand HBM and advanced DRAM production capacity. Supply remains constrained, though, with Micron expecting to meet only part of customer demand in key segments despite its efforts to ramp output.
Two Tracks Emerging in the AI Ecosystem
Micron’s results stand in contrast to pressures seen elsewhere in the AI sector, suggesting the landscape is diverging into two camps. On one side, chipcreaters like Micron, Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) continue to benefit from outsized demand for semiconductors essential to AI training and inference. High-bandwidth memory and graphics processors remain in short supply, supporting elevated pricing and profitability.
Meanwhile, the other camp of infrastructure providers faces scrutiny over the costs of scaling data centers. Oracle (NYSE:ORCL), in particular, has drawn attention for its rising debt levels tied to an aggressive AI buildout agconcludea, with reports of funding challenges for large projects and substantial lease obligations. It just confirmed that Blue Owl Capital (NYSE:OBDC) will not be financing its Michigan data center, calling into question Oracle’s ambitious AI vision.
Similarly, CoreWeave (NASDAQ:CRWV), a specialized AI cloud provider, has experienced heavy pushback over concerns about financing massive GPU clusters. These companies require significant upfront capital — often financed through debt — to construct facilities before revenue ever materializes, raising questions about return on investment timelines in an elevated interest rate environment.
This divide highlights how direct suppliers of AI hardware components capture immediate demand strength, while downstream infrastructure builders grapple with execution risks and balance sheet strain.
Key Takeaway
Following the earnings release, Micron shares are surging 13.5% in premarket trading this morning, reflecting investor confidence in sustained AI tailwinds.
JPMorgan has identified semiconductors as a prime area for AI investment exposure, emphasizing the physical infrastructure layer’s multi-year pricing power when supply is severely constrained. Micron’s blowout quarter and sold-out HBM outview support this view, underscoring large tailwinds for the semiconductor sector.
With tight markets expected to continue and demand unmet for key customers, Micron stock remains positioned as a stock investors should acquire for the foreseeable future.
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