Thierry from arvy
CFA, Co-Founder & CIO of arvy, Quality Investing
Micron is at its top because memory stocks peak when margins peak, well before the shortage flips to oversupply, expected by 2028. Memory is tech's most brutally cyclical business: shortage, record prices, margins and capex, then new capacity arrives at once and becomes a glut. Micron trades at record highs on record DRAM prices, with memory's biggest capex wave under construction. In past oversupply cycles it fell 90% in 2000, 80% in 2008, 50% in 2018 and 47% in 2022. x.comÂ
Micron's earnings are at the top of a cycle, so its 8.5x P/E is an optical illusion: cheap on peak earnings is expensive in disguise. Gross margin is near 80% versus a 41% long-run median, and net margin 56% versus 18%; in downturns memory margins have gone negative. Memory costs Apple about four times what it did three quarters ago, forcing price hikes, and Micron's quarterly net income of $28.2B nearly matches Apple's $29.6B. Memory is a commodity with cycles, not a moat. x.com x.com x.comÂ
Micron faces a severe crash risk from CXMT's current threat and apparent investor complacency after a euphoric high. If the Wall St Cheat Sheet fits, most of Micron's gains across 40 years, amassed in just one year, could be erased soon. Earlier, Elon Musk said Micron had been reasonable on future memory prices; memory stocks were not yet to be faded. x.com x.comÂ
Micron is a cyclical, and if DRAM sells at cash cost at any point in the next 15 years, which is likely over that span, owners will be in deep trouble. The historical playbook is to buy memory when it looks bleak and sell when it looks rosy. When take-or-pay contracts showed up in past industries, prices often fell within 18 months and the stocks dropped as spot prices fell. @BeenThereCap counters that Micron is on pace to earn its market cap in cash within eight years. x.com x.com x.com x.comÂ
Micron's memory leadership remains intact because it is sold out into 2027. A red day does not change those fundamentals; anyone arguing it has topped must identify which part of demand breaks and when. x.comÂ
Micron faces a real risk that political pressure forces a rapid increase in DRAM supply before the midterms. Two years of memory price pressure and shortages could hit cars, washing machines, payment terminals and medical devices, eroding political appetite for unlimited AI buildout support. Supply could be reallocated from AI, or more likely a "project warp speed" program could scale memory output, a disaster for Micron. As in all commodity bubbles, price is the ultimate solution. x.com 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 could triple if earnings stay high for longer and investors stop valuing it as a commodity business. D.A. Davidson's $3,000 target implies about 20x annualized Q1 earnings versus about 7x today. Management sees supply tight through 2027-28, with demand from hyperscalers and AI leaders. Customers cutting memory per device, like Tesla's AI5, signals scarcity. Strategic agreements backed by about $32B of commitments raise the trough. China competition and untested agreements are risks. x.comÂ
Inflation, rising rates, Chinese competition and rising AI-related financial costs are pressuring the memory market. Micron, Samsung and SK hynix look exposed; waiting for the cycle to turn. x.com x.comÂ
Memory stocks are at the peak of the cycle, and FOMO buying into Micron and SanDisk now could be one of the dumbest moves. Chinese factories are coming online at lightning speed, which is why Micron is signing multi-year deals, and pricing power is peaking right now. The market is forward-looking, so a low forward P/E matters little if net income drops 60-90% a few years out. Per Kalshi, the memory ETF just passed $25 billion in assets for the first time. x.com x.com x.comÂ
Micron's memory upcycle has a very realistic chance of lasting a decade, as Daniel Newman said on the Futurum Equities Podcast. Futurum Intelligence forecasts DRAM demand outrunning supply every year from 2026 to 2030, with the gap widest in 2028 at 9.3%. 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
