Micron Technology has crossed the $1 trillion market capitalization mark for the first time, becoming one of the few semiconductor companies in history to achieve the milestone. Shares of the memory-chip maker jumped around 18-19% in one trading session, briefly pushing the stock above $886 and lifting the company’s valuation past the trillion-dollar mark. The rise has been one of the fastest in the semiconductor industry, with Micron’s stock gaining more than 200% in 2026 alone and climbing over eight times from its lows during the memory-chip downturn just a few years ago.
The surge was triggered largely by a massive upgrade from UBS, which raised its target price on Micron from $535 to $1,625 – the highest target among the 46 brokerages covering the company. UBS argued that AI demand is permanently changing the economics of the memory-chip business and estimated Micron could generate more than $400 billion in free cash flow between 2027 and 2029. At the company’s previous closing valuation of around $847 billion, the new target implied the possibility of Micron approaching a market value near $1.8 trillion within the next year if momentum continues.
The company’s explosive rise is being driven mainly by demand for high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, a specialized type of memory chip used in AI servers and advanced GPUs. These chips are critical for training and running large AI models because they move huge amounts of data much faster than traditional memory systems. Micron has said its entire HBM supply for 2026 is already sold out under long-term agreements, while production of next-generation HBM4 chips has already started ramping up. Estimates now project the global HBM market could grow from around $35 billion in 2025 to about $100 billion by 2028.
Financially, Micron has seen a dramatic turnaround. In 2023, the company was suffering from one of the worst memory-chip downturns in decades as weak smartphone and PC demand caused DRAM and NAND prices to collapse. Micron posted losses of about $5.8 billion that year after revenue fell to nearly $15.5 billion. Since then, AI demand has completely reshaped the business. Revenue almost tripled year over year in recent quarters. The company also raised its dividend by 30% earlier this year, showing growing confidence in long-term cash generation.
Most importantly, Micron’s rise also carries major geopolitical importance because it is the only large US-based memory-chip manufacturer competing directly with South Korean giants Samsung and SK Hynix. The company, founded in 1978, now employs over 53,000 people worldwide and has announced around $200 billion in long-term semiconductor investments focused heavily on US manufacturing and AI infrastructure. Its expansion plans include massive fabrication projects in Idaho and New York, as Washington pushes to strengthen domestic semiconductor production and reduce dependence on Asian supply chains.
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Ashutosh is a Senior Writer at The Tech Portal, largely reporting on new tech, and intersection of technology and business. Ashutosh’s career spans across nearly a decade of technology writing across multiple platforms and languages.
