Micron shares, up nearly 160% this year, surge further on strong AI forecast

Shares of Micron Technology Inc. surged as much as 8% in extended trading on Wednesday, after reporting strong results for the first quarter and also delivering a better-than-expected guidance for the second.

For the quarter gone by, Micron reported sales of $13.6 billion, higher than the $13 billion estimate and up 57% from last year. Earnings per Share (EPS) of $4.78, higher than the $3.95 estimate.

Micron expects second quarter revenue to be between $18.3 billion to $19.1 billion, well above the $14.4 billion average projection from analysts. EPS is likely to range between $8.22 to $8.62, also above the average projection of $4.71.

Calling itself an "essential AI enabler" Micron is capitalizing on the demand for AI computing components, but it also warns that demand is outstripping supply and it is therefore making more investments to cater to that demand. As a result, expenses in the subsequent quarters are likely to be on the higher side, as per the management. Capex guidance for the year has been raised to $20 billion from $18 billion earlier.

“This is the most significant disconnect between demand and supply in terms of magnitude as well as time horizon that we’ve experienced in my 25 years in the industry,” Executive Vice President of Operations Manish Bhatia said in an interview to Bloomberg.

Micron's results and commentary could provide investors some comfort after the twin disasters delivered by Oracle and Broadcom in terms of results, which sent AI-linked stocks into a tizzy last week, a phenomenon that is still ongoing.

Micron has been a key beneficiary of AI demand because its high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, is critical to the chips and systems that develop artificial intelligence models. Micron is already sold out of these components for 2026, Bhatia said.

The management also expects the memory shortage to last beyond calendar year 2026.

Shares of Micron are up over 170% so far in 2025, making it among the best performing big Wall Street names this year.

With Inputs From Agencies.