The best year in semiconductor history is happening inside one of the cheapest stocks in the Nasdaq 100.
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) is wrapping up a historic stretch on Wall Street, with shares up roughly 29% this week — on pace for the chipmaker's best weekly performance since December 2008.
The rally has lifted Micron's market capitalization near $800 billion, vaulting the Boise-based memory maker into the top 10 most valuable U.S. tech companies.
Year-to-date, the stock is up about 144%, and over the past 12 months, it has gained close to 750%, one of the most explosive runs in the S&P 500.
And yet, by one of the most widely watched valuation metrics, Micron still screens as a bargain.
That is the contradiction at the center of the AI memory trade.
A 7x Forward Multiple After a 740% Run
Despite the parabolic move, Micron trades at just 7.6 times its forward 12-month earnings, ranking among the cheapest stocks in the Nasdaq-100.
The list of the index's lowest forward P/E names puts Micron in unusual company — alongside cable, fintech and energy stocks that are typically priced for stagnation, not for triple-digit earnings growth.
Nasdaq 100's Cheapest Stocks According to Forward P/E Ratio
The reason the multiple looks so compressed is simple: earnings are exploding faster than the share price.
In its fiscal second-quarter 2026 results, Micron posted revenue of $23.86 billion, nearly triple the $8.05 billion it reported a year earlier. Non-GAAP EPS came in at $12.20, up 682% year over year — one of the largest earnings surprises in the company's history.
Micron's pricing power is no longer theoretical. The company has confirmed that its entire 2026 high-bandwidth memory (HBM) supply — including next-generation HBM4 — is sold out, with pricing and volume agreements already signed. Negotiations for 2027 deliveries are underway.
Only three companies — Micron, SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics — produce HBM at scale, and 12-layer HBM3E and HBM4 stacks consume far more wafer capacity than conventional DDR5, mechanically capping how fast supply can grow.
Wall Street Struggles to Keep Up With Micron's Vertical Rally
According to analyst ratings, the consensus 12-month price target on Micron across 31 analysts now stands at $521, implying a 25% decline from current prices.
However, the three most recent calls tell a far more aggressive story — averaging $786.67, implying roughly 19% upside from current levels.
D.A. Davidson anchors the Street-high at $1,000, followed by TD Cowen at $660 and Melius Research at $640, all updated on April 28.
The bullish tape continued this week, with Mizuho analyst Vijay Rakesh lifting his target to $740 from $545 on May 7, citing "agentic AI driving memory demand," while Wedbush moved to $550 from $500.
The last formal rating upgrade came back on Dec. 18, 2025, when BofA Securities shifted Micron from Neutral to Buy at a $300 price target — a level the stock has since blown through twice over.
