Shares surged as Micron Technology blasted through the $948 level in pre-market trading, capping a week of explosive gains driven by artificial-intelligence enthusiasm and a torrent of bullish options bets tied to May 29 expiries. For shareholders, the critical question is whether the stock's trajectory reflects durable fundamentals or a momentum machine running on speculative fuel. Micron Blasts Past $948 as Options Frenzy Meets a Trillion-Dollar Valuation — Is the AI Memory Trade Running on Fundamentals or Pure Momentum?
Shares surged as Micron Technology raced above $948 in pre-market trading on May 29, extending a week in which the stock has more than doubled in value this year and the company crossed the $1 trillion market-capitalization threshold for the first time. Micron topped a $1 trillion market value for the first time on Tuesday as shares popped 19%, driven by insatiable artificial intelligence demand for its memory chips. Aggressive call-option buying — bets that the stock will keep climbing — tied to today's May 29 expiries is amplifying the move. For shareholders, the question is whether this rally prices in years of growth that haven't arrived yet.
A Real Shortage Is Backing the Hype — For Now This isn't pure speculation. Micron posted Q2 fiscal 2026 revenue of $23.86 billion — up 196% year over year — and CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said current supply of high-bandwidth memory (the ultra-fast chips AI systems need) meets just 50% to 66% of key customer demand.
Non-GAAP operating margin hit 69%, and earnings per share reached $12.20. Those are real profits, not projections, and they give the rally a concrete floor — at least in the near term.
Wall Street Is Racing to Catch Up With the Stock
UBS tripled its price target from $535 to $1,625 , while Barclays raised its target to $1,175 from $675 . At $948, the stock already trades at roughly 44× trailing earnings — a P/E of about 43.8 . That is historically expensive for a memory chipmaker that spent decades swinging between booms and busts. Bulls argue AI has permanently changed the math; skeptics note that future supply increases from Micron and rivals Samsung and SK Hynix could eventually ease the shortage and compress margins.
Options Positioning Could Cut Both Ways Today's concentrated call-option activity around the May 29 expiry creates a feedback loop: market makers hedging those bets must buy shares, pushing prices higher. But once the options expire, that mechanical buying disappears. If sentiment shifts, the same leverage that turbocharged gains can accelerate losses.
The Cycle Question Hasn't Gone Away
Micron has outlined roughly $200 billion in planned capacity expansion , and no major new industry capacity is expected before 2028. That gives the company a two-year runway of pricing power. But the memory industry's historical pattern — heavy investment during booms leading to oversupply and crashing prices — has never been permanently repealed. Shareholders riding this rally should watch closely for any softening in demand signals or acceleration in rival factory timelines.