Ashton Invests
Long-Term Equity Investor, Fundamental Stock Research
Micron's sold-out high-bandwidth memory through 2027+ and contracts already being signed for 2029-2030+ extend its earnings runway. At 5x forward earnings, it is cheaper than a year ago; its private Anthropic stake is about to be instantly rerated at Anthropic's IPO, and a new share buyback is expected to be announced Dec. 9. Micron could certainly gain 30% in three months. x.com x.comÂ
Micron and SK hynix pricing in a memory shortage past 2030 extends the memory-cycle case beyond the Street's 2028 expectation. SK hynix's record quarter adds evidence: per Wall St Engine, revenue rose 328% to $78.9B, operating profit rose 632% to $62.8B, and operating margin hit 80%. Agentic and physical AI could add demand as they roll out. x.com x.comÂ
Micron's projections are set so high that even great years may not be enough to meet them. Samsung's Q3 results show the risk: revenue of $145.6B missed the $150.7B estimate, and operating profit of $80.2B missed $81.1B. x.comÂ
Each new AI wave is lifting demand across Micron's HBM, DRAM and storage products. Micron said training, inference, agentic AI and physical AI raise memory needs; the stock still trades at about 5x next-twelve-month earnings, leaving its growth story just getting started. x.comÂ
Micron's AI memory-chip sales and accelerating growth support its upside case. Its 3.3/5 WATCH rating reflects a business with 60% of sales from cloud and data-center chips, 64 cents of profit per sales dollar and 256% sales growth last year. At the Oct. 15 close of $878.84, it traded about 42% below estimated fair value of $1,512.34. The case needs strong sales growth and expanding margins and cash flow; slower growth or a price outrunning the business are warning signs. x.comÂ
Micron's 5x earnings multiple reflects an AI bubble that will eventually implode, though not today or next week. Many are already saying AI tokens are not delivering the desired return on investment, and what works for some will not work for all. x.com x.comÂ
Micron's ordinary memory could see tighter supply because HBM consumes far more factory capacity than conventional DRAM. Meeting AI demand could thus extend Micron's opportunity beyond AI memory. x.comÂ
Micron may merit 10x next year's earnings, perhaps a $2,000 share-price target rather than D.A. Davidson's $3,000, on the firm's case that AI and memory demand could support three to five years of growth. x.comÂ
Micron's roughly $1.37 trillion valuation already prices a durable rise in through-cycle earnings that memory's history has never shown. A reverse DCF at 9% WACC and 2% growth implies about $95 billion of steady cash flow, versus a record $9.2 billion and a ten-year average near $1.9 billion. At a 30% FCFF margin that needs about $317 billion of revenue, over 8x fiscal 2025 sales. The HBM bull case is real, but fiscal 2023's swing to a -37% operating margin shows how fast pricing reverses. x.comÂ
Micron looks like a bargain at about 5x forward earnings with 380% sales growth and net profit up 11x, in an AI compute environment where every data point is extremely bullish. A quoted post cites OpenAI nearing $70B in ARR, AI agents becoming a new secular demand driver, record Korean memory-chip exports, and Micron's big beat-and-raise with demand extending another year. x.comÂ