TechJul 9, 2026
Chip Stocks Rally as Meta Boosts Data Center Capacity
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Micron Technology jumped on July 9 after the company laid out plans to invest more than $250B in the US through 2035 to meet demand for AI memory chips.
The announcement helped power the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up 4.6%, its second straight positive session after a rough start to the week.
Sandisk, Marvell Technology, and Advanced Micro Devices all gained on the news.
As part of the investment rollout, Micron also unveiled a $3B commitment to bolster the US semiconductor supply chain, including support for GlobalWafers' silicon wafer manufacturing in Texas, backed by a 10-year supply agreement.
A second catalyst hit the same morning. Reuters reported that Meta Platforms plans to double its computing infrastructure from 7 gigawatts in 2026 to 14 gigawatts in 2027, with AI spending projected at as much as $145B this year.
Meta's in-house AI processor, Iris, will be developed with Broadcom and manufactured by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing.
The company locked in long-term contracts across its supply chain: Samsung supplies memory, Sandisk provides flash storage, and Sumitomo Electric delivers fiber-optic systems.
The news calmed fears that had emerged the prior week, when Bloomberg reported Meta was planning to sell spare data center capacity externally, a move some investors initially read as a sign of slowing AI investment.
Adding momentum, SK Hynix's US IPO drew sevenfold institutional demand ahead of its Nasdaq debut under the ticker, signaling continued investor appetite for the AI memory trade.
Not everyone is buying the dip. Morgan Stanley advised investors to pare back memory chip positions, noting that most gains from AI capex have already materialized in the sector.
JPMorgan pushed back, calling the pullback a buying opportunity and ranking its tech preferences as chips over hyperscalers over AI-exposed plays.
The firm argued the chip upcycle is not peaking anytime soon and that new production capacity won't come online until 2028 at the earliest.
Goldman Sachs flagged that the wave of large AI-driven earnings surprises was close to its end, with guidance and management commentary set to matter more than headline results this season.
S&P 500 earnings are expected to rise 24% year-over-year this quarter, with technology companies accounting for much of that gain, according to LSEG data.
Big Tech earnings reports, due later this month, will be the clearest test of whether AI investment commitments hold or whether the sector's recent volatility was a preview of something larger.
