Bernstein has just dropped a bold take on Micron Technology (MU), bumping its price target to $330 from $270, with the stock already trading near $315 (near record highs).
The upgrade comes at a time when Micron stock has been on a remarkable run, delivering a staggering 262% return last year.
Clearly, the memory bellwether has been a clear anomaly in the AI chip trade of late.
Over the past three months alone, the stock is up over 72%, while AI giants like Nvidia have barely budged.
At a point when investors are skeptical of tech stocks, Micron has been an absolute monster.
Bernstein’s reasoning is simple yet powerful.
Wall Street pundits believe that memory pricing is growing at a rapid pace, as demand for AI continues to grow, and supply expansion remains mostly constrained.
That rare combination positions Micron as a unique semiconductor stock with genuine, sustained pricing power.
Having covered tech and AI for the longest time, this divergence usually signals that the market is recognizing where the real leverage sits.
Clearly, Micron is winning from an entirely different layer of the AI stack, where it’s selling the bottleneck (memory) and not the flashy GPUs.
And right now, demand is going head-on with limited supply, powering explosive results.
Bernstein’s bold Micron call highlights surging AI-driven memory pricing as MU trades near record highs
Photo by MANDEL NGAN on Getty Images
Analysts keep hiking Micron targets, but the easy upside is narrowing
Even after Micron’s incredible rally, multiple big-name analysts see room to the upside, though that gap is narrowing.
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That said, here’s a list of the latest analyst price targets on 4.Micron stock, keeping in mind its current share price of nearly $315:
- Rosenblatt: $500 price target (+58.7%) — says AI has effectively turned memory into a must-have layer.
- BofA Securities: $300 price target ( -4.7%) — raised Micron stock to Buy from $250.
- JPMorgan: $350 price target (+11.1%) — kept Overweight after Micron’s blowout quarterly showing, reinforcing the AI-memory supercycle view.
- Morgan Stanley: $350 price target (+11.1%) — stayed bullish while lifting the bar on DRAM earnings power into 2026–27.
- HSBC (initiation): $330 price target (+4.8%) — launched coverage at Buy, framing Micron as a critical beneficiary of tight AI-memory supply.
- KeyBanc: $325 price target (+3.2%) — reiterated Overweight, arguing AI/data center demand continues outstripping supply while pushing pricing higher
Micron’s pricing power may last longer than Wall Street expects
Bernstein’s confidence in Micron has everything to do with its unusually durable pricing cycle.
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The firm expects DRAM prices to continue rising in early 2026, supercharged by unrelenting demand from data centers for AI workloads, as supply growth remains mostly constrained.
Bernstein forecasts a hefty 20% to 25% sequential bump in DRAM prices for the upcoming quarter, spearheaded by conventional DRAM.
In fact, those apparently lofty projections may prove conservative if we look at the recent data.
For instance, TrendForce / DRAMeXchange data shows that in Q4 2025, DRAM contract prices jumped over 45%–50% sequentially.
Moreover, DRAM & NAND pricing were two major highlights for Micron in its FQ1 2026 showing.
DRAM sales jumped to $10.8 billion (up 69% year-over-year), another record, while prices skyrocketed 20% sequentially on the back of constricted supply.
Crucially, this isn’t something that can be fixed overnight.
Capacity additions take a ton of time, and Micron’s own fiscal 2026 capital spending plans came in lower than expected. Consequently, Bernstein analysts said:
2026 is shaping up to be a defining year for Micron
All of that sets up what’s looking like another monster year for Micron Technology in 2026 .
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The first of the signals is the company’s own spending plans.
The tech behemoth recently raised its fiscal 2026 capital expenditure target to an eye-catching $20 billion, up from $18 billion, giving it greater room to expand DRAM and high-bandwidth memory capacity.
At the same time, the demand-supply imbalance remains clearly in its favor.
CEO Sanjay Mehrotra doubled down on that view, saying memory markets will likely stay “tight past 2026.”
Moreover, the numbers back him up, too.
In its most recent quarter, DRAM made up nearly 80% of Micron’s sales, with average selling prices skyrocketing 20% sequentially.
NAND prices shot up in the mid-teens, but perhaps the real leverage was on display in its AI-facing businesses, such as Cloud Memory, which posted a staggering 66% gross margin, compared with 45% companywide.
The bulk of this demand is now being driven by AI.
High-bandwidth memory consumes roughly three times the DRAM capacity of standard DDR5, meaning there’s significantly more DRAM capacity consumed per unit for AI workloads.
That’s exactly why the company’s 2026 HBM output remains sold out, with HBM4 ramping up late in the year, while server shipments surge at a record pace.
Investor outlook: Higher expectations come with less margin for error
Micron stock is trading near record highs, which means the investor conversation has evolved from upside potential to sustainability.
In fact, consensus Wall Street estimates actually point to a 3.2% downside from current levels to $305.29, with the stock trading at 28-times non-GAAP earnings.
Growing investor optimism is also evident in its technicals.
Micron’s relative strength index (RSI) (a momentum gauge) sits at 72, a level signalling overbought conditions. For perspective, Micron’s RSI was near 44 in late November.
The stock price rally has also lifted its stock price significantly above its 200-day moving average, a key trend measure many investors track. Micron is trading 111% above its 200-day moving average. According to Investor’s Business Daily, stocks are considered historically extended when they get 70% or more above the 200-day moving average.
Yet, analysts remain broadly constructive, but the tone has become a lot more selective. The bull case hinges on flawless execution, backed by sustained pricing power, disciplined capital spending, and robust AI-driven demand.
Given the consistent outperformance, expectations have risen alongside the stock, leaving little room for disappointment.
In totality, Micron’s outlook remains mighty compelling but hinges on results, not narratives.