Micron Technology briefly overtook Meta Platforms and Tesla by market capitalisation on Thursday after the US memory-chip maker delivered stronger-than-expected quarterly guidance, reinforcing investor confidence in the artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure boom and soaring demand for memory chips.
Shares of Micron surged as much as 18.4% during intraday trade following its earnings announcement, temporarily pushing its market value above both Meta and Tesla, according to a Reuters report. The stock eventually closed 15.8% higher.
By the end of the session, Micron’s market capitalisation stood at $1.37 trillion, just below Meta’s $1.38 trillion and Tesla’s $1.41 trillion.
The rally was driven by the company’s upbeat fourth-quarter outlook. Micron forecast revenue of around $50 billion for the quarter ending August, significantly higher than Wall Street estimates of $43.2 billion, signalling that demand for AI-related memory products remains robust despite concerns over the sustainability of heavy AI spending by major technology companies.
Adding to the optimism, Micron revealed that customers have committed $22 billion in advance orders to secure future supplies of memory chips, underlining the strong appetite for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and other AI-focused semiconductor products.
Chief Executive Officer Sanjay Mehrotra said the company sees no immediate relief from supply constraints, noting that demand continues to outpace production. Speaking to analysts, Mehrotra said there is “no line of sight” for supply catching up with demand, with market tightness expected to persist beyond 2027 and meaningful improvement likely only in 2028, according to Bloomberg.
The latest earnings have extended Micron’s stellar run in 2026. The stock has surged about 326% year-to-date and gained more than 15% since the earnings release. Micron crossed the $1 trillion market-cap milestone in late May, joining an elite club of technology giants benefiting from the global AI investment cycle.
The upbeat results also lifted the broader semiconductor sector. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index climbed 3.2% on Thursday and remains on track for its strongest quarterly performance on record, according to LSEG data.
Among industry peers, Sandisk jumped 22%, Western Digital gained 7.4%, Seagate Technology rose 4.3%, while Qualcomm advanced after outlining ambitious plans to expand its AI-focused data centre business.
Despite Micron’s blockbuster performance, the broader technology sector ended mixed. Investors remained cautious about whether the rapid pace of AI infrastructure spending by hyperscalers can be sustained over the long term.
The debate intensified after Apple announced price hikes for iPads and MacBooks to offset rising memory and storage chip costs, sending its shares down 6.1% and raising fresh questions over whether higher AI infrastructure costs will ultimately be passed on to consumers.