Micron Stock Leads Chip Rebound. Dip Buyers Buckle Up. -- Barrons.com

By Jack Denton

Micron stock was rising Friday, leading chip stocks into what many investors will hope is a rebound to cap a week of volatile trading.

With Micron stock far below its June record high, and analysts remaining bullish on the memory specialist, dip buyers could see an opportunity. But the chaos may not be over just yet.

Micron stock gained 1.8% in premarket trading on Friday, paring losses after a 6.3% slump on Thursday as chip stocks sold off amid continued worries over the sustainability of spending on the artificial intelligence boom. Micron was leading the pack higher into the end of the week, outpacing the widely followed iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX), up 1% in the premarket.

Micron stock has lost more than 30% since its red-hot run to a record high of $1,255 in June, though the shares remain up more than 170% this year.

Analysts still love it, seeing the company as a key beneficiary of the memory bottleneck in AI.

"The company positions memory as the binding constraint on AI system performance as inference workloads raise bandwidth, capacity, and power requirements," Karl Ackerman, an analyst at BNP Paribas Equity Research, wrote in a note on Thursday, adding that Micron expects supply tightness across memory to last for at least the next two years.

BNP Paribas rates Micron stock at Buy with a $1,700 price target -- implying the share price should almost double from its current level.

Similar calls came from other analysts this week following an event hosted by Micron where the company outlined its road map for the memory sector.

All this bullish sentiment is no doubt stirring considerations of buying the big dip in Micron stock. But as this week has made clear -- with the stock down just 2% since last Friday despite stomach-churning jumps in each direction -- investors should be ready for a roller coaster.

The long-term memory outlook may be strong, but AI spending worries are unlikely to fade fast, nor are higher bond yields and mounting debt concerns.

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October 23, 2026 07:10 ET (11:10 GMT)