Up 122% YTD and 690% over 12 months… Meta, Microsoft, and Apple all cited rising memory costs in earnings calls
Micron (MU) surged 11% intraday on January 5, setting a new all-time high. Two catalysts converged: the launch of the world's largest commercial SSD and a Fitch credit rating upgrade.
Micron shares are up 122% year-to-date and 690% over the past 12 months, positioning the company at the center of the semiconductor rally.
245TB SSD — A Scale to Comprehend
Micron announced the commercial availability of the Micron 6600 ION 245TB, the world's largest commercial SSD.
The scale is difficult to grasp: 245TB could store Netflix's entire content library with room to spare. More importantly for data centers, this density enables storage of equivalent data in racks that are up to 82% smaller than traditional hard drives. Physical space, power consumption, and cooling costs all decline. As AI data centers proliferate, this space efficiency translates directly into capex savings.
Fitch Upgrades Micron to BBB+ with Stable Outlook
On the same day, Fitch upgraded Micron's credit rating from BBB to BBB+ and assigned a stable outlook.
Fitch cited two reasons: first, significant debt reduction over the past 12 months has substantially improved the balance sheet; second, surging AI demand has dramatically enhanced profitability and near-term revenue visibility. Fitch specifically noted that hyperscalers are aggressively pursuing long-term supply contracts to secure dedicated capacity. Customers actively seeking long-term agreements signals that Micron, as the supplier, holds pricing power in negotiations.
Meta, Microsoft, and Apple All Flagged Rising Memory Costs
A critical context for Micron's rally: Meta, Microsoft, and Apple all cited rising memory costs in their recent earnings calls.
Memory costs for AI servers are climbing. This directly benefits Micron. When Big Tech reports that memory costs are rising, it signals Micron is selling at higher prices. This mirrors the NAND supply shortage dynamics discussed earlier: AI demand is overwhelming memory supply, driving Micron's pricing power and margins upward.
HBM Market Share Accelerating
The core thesis for Micron's long-term growth centers on HBM (high-bandwidth memory)—the high-margin memory that sits next to AI GPUs for rapid data transfer. While SK Hynix leads and Samsung trails in this market, Micron, a late entrant, is rapidly gaining share. As noted previously, D.A. Davidson estimates Micron expanded HBM market share from ~5% in 2024 to ~21% in Q2 2025, surpassing Samsung into second place.
