BusinessJun 24, 2026
Record Earnings Fuel Micron Growth Amid Global Supply Shortage
Rhea Lobo
Micron Technology reported fiscal Q3 revenue of $41.5B on Wednesday, up 346% from $9.3B a year earlier.
Adjusted gross margins hit ~85%, setting an all-time record and topping what analysts had expected. Net income for the quarter was $28.2B, compared with $1.9B in the same period last year.
Shares rose in after-hours trading and have now surged over 700% over the past year, lifting Micron's market cap past $1T.
The results are a direct product of a memory shortage that shows no sign of easing. AI data centers are consuming memory at a pace the industry wasn't built to handle. Meaningful supply additions remain limited in the near term, with the next wave of capacity not arriving until around next year and further expansions slated for 2028 and 2029.
Micron and its two main rivals, SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, were emerging from one of their worst down-cycles ever when the AI investment boom began in 2024. Burned by prior overbuilding, they held back on capacity expansion — a decision that is now squeezing customers across the industry.
DRAM revenue alone reached $31.3B in the quarter, well above the $27.5B analysts had projected. NAND storage revenue came in at $9.9B, beating estimates of $7.7B. Micron also announced a new supply agreement with Anthropic and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share.
Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo have already raised console prices as higher costs ripple through the industry. Apple has signaled price increases for some products and warned of margin pressure ahead.
The concern now is that consumers may become more selective with discretionary tech purchases, potentially slowing demand for laptops, smartphones, and other electronics.
Despite the record run, Micron trades at just 9.5 times projected 12-month earnings, compared with 20.8 for the S&P 500. Analysts expect demand to outpace supply for at least two more years.
For now, the numbers back the bulls, but the memory cycle's eventual turn will be sharp when it comes.
