Micron posts better-than-expected Q2 results and Q3 guidance

Micron (MU) reported its second quarter earnings after the closing bell on Wednesday, beating expectations on the top and bottom lines and providing Q3 guidance well above estimates as the AI market continues to drive massive demand for memory chips around the world.

For the quarter, Micron reported earnings per share (EPS) of $12.20 on revenue of $23.86 billion. Wall Street was anticipating EPS of $9.00 on revenue of $19.7 billion year over year.

Memory, or RAM, is an integral component of data center servers for both GPU-based systems by Nvidia (NVDA) and CPU-based systems by the likes of Intel (INTC) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).

The explosion in AI training and inferencing and the broader push into agentic AI are driving a shortage of memory supplies, raising prices and impacting the cost of consumer and enterprise electronics.

In February, market research firm Gartner said the memory shortage will cause PC shipments to drop 10.4% in 2026 and smartphone shipments to decline 8.4%.

Prices on those products will also increase 17% and 13%, respectively, versus 2025 levels.

Micron is one of a small number of global memory chip suppliers, alongside SK Hynix and Samsung (005930.KS). Those companies produce DRAM, which is used as part of the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) necessary for AI data centers, as well as in double data rate (DDR) memory, which is used in various permutations in smartphones, laptops, and most other computers.

Because HBM offers higher margins, memory makers are building more chips for data centers than for other electronics, increasing prices on consumer and enterprise devices.

Micron, in particular, made a strategic move to discontinue its Crucial line of consumer memory products in favor of focusing on HBM chips.

On Monday, Micron announced plans to build a second plant at a site it acquired in Taiwan in January.

And in January, the company broke ground on a new $100 billion mega fabrication facility to produce memory chips in New York state to increase memory supply.

Micron stock has benefited handsomely from the AI boost, climbing 357% over the past 12 months and 63% since the start of 2026.

Meanwhile, Sandisk (SNDK), which focuses on storage chips, has seen its stock rocket 1,239% over the past year, driven by high demand from data center builders.

Email Daniel Howley at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @DanielHowley.

Click here for the latest technology news that will impact the stock market

Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance