Micron Earnings Quadruple Sparking Chip Rally

Micron Technology Inc. reported fiscal Q3 revenue of $41.46 billion, up from $9.3 billion a year earlier, as a global memory chip shortage drove prices to record levels. Net profit rose to $28.2 billion from $1.88 billion in the same period last year. Gross margin expanded to 84.9% -- up from 39% a year ago -- surpassing both Nvidia and Meta and making Micron the highest-margin company in large-cap tech. Shares rose 16% in premarket trading Thursday.

A sustained shortage of high-bandwidth memory used in AI data centers has pushed chip prices sharply higher over the past year. Micron's numbers show just how much. The memory crunch has disproportionately benefited U.S. producers. Micron's report lifted semiconductor stocks broadly in Asian trading Wednesday night, reviving an AI trade that had faced pressure for much of the week.