The AI trade had a shaky few weeks. Tech stocks sold off, megacaps stumbled, and investors began wondering whether the AI infrastructure buildout was running out of steam. Then Micron Technology (MU) reported earnings after the close on June 24, 2026, and settled the debate — at least for now.
The results were not just a beat. They were a statement.
Micron Technology (MU): The AI Memory Trade Confirmed
Micron shares surged 16.1% on June 25, 2026, trading at $1,217.74 with a market cap of approximately $1.37 trillion. The stock has now traveled from a 52-week low of $103.38 to a new all-time high near $1,255— a gain of more than 1,100% in twelve months.
The fiscal Q3 2026 results (quarter ended May 28, 2026) explain why. Micron reported revenue of $41.46B — up 73.7% from $23.86B in Q2 — with net income of $28.23B and diluted EPS of $24.67, more than double the $12.07 earned the prior quarter. Gross margin reached 84.6%— among the highest of any major chipmaker — and net margin hit 68.1% For context, the Wall Street consensus estimate for EPS was approximately $20.20. Micron delivered $24.67.
The driver behind these numbers is High Bandwidth Memory, or HBM — the specialized chip stacks that sit directly on AI accelerators and enable the massive data throughput required by models like GPT-5 and Gemini Ultra. Micron management said on the earnings call that HBM supply is fully sold out through 2027, with pricing locked in under long-term contracts. That is not a growth story — it is a supply constraint story, and those tend to sustain elevated margins for longer than the market expects.
For the August 2026 quarter, Micron guided revenue to approximately $50 billion — a figure that was $6.8 billion above the prior Wall Street consensus of $43.2 billion. That size of a guidance beat is rare at any revenue scale, let alone at $50 billion per quarter.
Analysts responded immediately. Fifteen of sixteen covering analysts updated their price targets on June 25, 2026 alone. The average consensus target is $1,534, with DA Davidson and Susquehanna both carrying high targets of $2,000. 93.8% of analysts covering MU hold a bullish rating. The only hold came from Goldman Sachs, which raised its target to $1,100 while maintaining its Neutral stance — a notable outlier in an otherwise unanimous bull camp.
The P/E of 26.99x trailing earnings is a number that would look normal on a utility or a bank. On Micron — the fastest-growing large-cap semiconductor company in the world right now — it looks like a gift.
QUALCOMM (QCOM): The AI Data Center Pivot Wall Street Is Underestimating
If Micron is the headline, QUALCOMM (QCOM) may be the quieter opportunity in the same AI infrastructure wave.
Qualcomm shares are trading at $209.77, up 6.26% on June 25, 2026, with a market cap of approximately $221B and a P/E of 17.6x. The 52-week range runs from $121.99 to $259.92, meaning the stock sits about 19% below its yearly high.
The catalyst on June 25 was a bombshell announcement tucked inside a broader investor event: Qualcomm doubled its fiscal year 2029 revenue target for its non-handset business to $40 billion and disclosed a new AI inference partnership with Meta — one that positions Qualcomm's Oryon CPU and AI accelerator architecture as the preferred on-device AI processing platform for Meta's next generation of smart glasses and AR hardware.
The most recent quarterly results reinforce the transition story. In Q2 FY2026 (ended March 29, 2026), Qualcomm posted revenue of $10.60B, net income of $7.37B, and diluted EPS of $6.88. Gross margin stood at 53.8%, with net margin above 60% — a sign that the business is generating substantial cash even as it funds a major strategic pivot away from dependence on smartphone chip royalties.
The bear case on QUALCOMM has always been the same: it is a royalty business tied to smartphone unit volumes, and smartphone growth is mature. The bull case, which gained significant credibility on June 25, is that AI is creating an entirely new end market for Qualcomm's chips — one that runs through data centers, edge servers, and AI-enabled devices rather than mobile handsets.
Analyst sentiment reflects that tension. 33.3% of analysts hold a bullish rating against a hold-heavy consensus, with an average price target of $201.60 — roughly in line with the current price. The high target is $280from Tigress Financial's Ivan Feinseth. The muted consensus is precisely why the stock may have more upside than the headline numbers suggest: if the data center pivot materializes at the scale Qualcomm is projecting, estimates across the street will need to move materially higher.
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