Micron (MU) Stock Rises as Samsung Strike Threat Tightens Memory Supply

TLDR

• Micron (MU) stock was up 2.49% in premarket trading Monday at $742.72, recovering after a 6.6% drop Friday.
• Samsung workers are threatening a general strike from May 21 to June 7, demanding 15% of operating profit in bonuses.
• A Samsung walkout could disrupt roughly 3% of global memory-chip production, according to Jefferies.
• Bank of America raised its Micron price target to $950 from $500, citing AI infrastructure spending and tighter memory supply.
• Wall Street expects Micron’s June 24 earnings to show EPS of $19.15, up from $1.91 a year ago.

Micron Technology (MU) stock was trading up 2.49% at $742.72 in premarket trading Monday, bouncing back after a 6.6% decline on Friday.

Micron Technology, Inc., MU

The Friday drop came alongside broader chip sector weakness, triggered by a hotter-than-expected CPI reading that pushed the PHLX Semiconductor Index down more than 3%.

NVIDIA fell 2.84% and Broadcom dropped 2.79% during the same session as investors pulled back from AI-driven semiconductor names.

Monday’s recovery for Micron comes as attention shifts to a brewing labor dispute at Samsung Electronics, which could tighten the global memory-chip market further.

Samsung workers are threatening a general strike from May 21 to June 7. Their demand: the company allocate 15% of its operating profit toward employee bonuses.

Jefferies estimates a full walkout could disrupt roughly 3% of global memory-chip production — a number that matters in an already tight market.

Samsung management and union leaders resumed talks Monday in a last-ditch effort to reach a deal, with discussions expected to run through Tuesday.

South Korea’s Prime Minister warned that even a single day of suspended operations at Samsung’s chip assembly lines could cost up to 1 trillion won — around $667.6 million.

A local court ordered Samsung’s union to maintain safety staffing levels during the proposed action but stopped short of banning the strike outright. Samsung’s own stock rose 3.9% in local trading on Monday.

Bank of America Sharply Raises Price Target

Bank of America Securities analyst Vivek Arya raised his Micron price target to $950 from $500, a near-doubling of his previous forecast.

Arya pointed to rising capital intensity, advanced packaging constraints, power limitations, and geopolitical pressure as drivers of structurally tighter memory supply conditions going forward.

He also noted Micron’s plan to spend more than $25 billion in capital expenditures in fiscal 2026, though he cautioned that meaningful supply additions — including from the Idaho fabrication facility and Singapore packaging plant — may not arrive until 2027 or later.

Arya believes accelerating AI infrastructure spending from Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, and Oracle could keep memory pricing power in suppliers’ favor through at least 2028.

China Exposure Remains a Watch Item

China accounts for roughly $3.4 billion, or about 12%, of Micron’s total revenue.

Beijing’s 2023 restrictions on Micron products in critical infrastructure continue to shape the company’s exposure in the region. Micron has since exited China’s domestic data center market but continues supplying chips to Chinese customers running overseas data centers, including Lenovo.

The company still holds exposure to China’s automotive and smartphone segments.

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang recently joined President Trump’s delegation to Beijing, though NVIDIA confirmed its China-compliant AI chips have still not received commercial sales approval there.

Micron’s next major catalyst is its June 24 earnings report. Wall Street expects EPS of $19.15, compared to $1.91 a year earlier. Revenue is projected at $33.51 billion, up from $9.30 billion in the prior-year period.

The stock currently trades at roughly 34.2 times earnings. The consensus analyst rating is Buy, with an average price target of $561.88.

DA Davidson reiterated a Buy rating and a $1,000 price target on May 11. TD Cowen raised its target to $660 on April 28, also maintaining a Buy.

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