Micron Posts Record $23.9B Revenue as AI Memory Demand Surges

MU delivered a blowout Q2 fiscal 2026, reporting record revenue of $23.86 billion, crushing the Street's $20.07 billion estimate. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $12.20 versus expectations of $9.31, driven by surging demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) used in AI data centers. Cloud memory revenue alone soared over 160% to $7.75 billion, reflecting the structural shift toward AI-optimized infrastructure.

The company's forward guidance was equally striking: Micron expects Q3 revenue of approximately $33.5 billion, implying over 200% year-over-year growth. CEO Sanjay Mehrotra noted that Micron's entire HBM production capacity for the remainder of calendar 2026 is fully committed under binding contracts, signaling that the AI memory cycle has moved beyond a shortage into structural undersupply. The company raised its 2026 capital expenditure budget to $25 billion and flagged a "meaningful step up" of over $10 billion in 2027 capex to fund new mega-fabs.

Micron projects AI will push data-center DRAM and NAND past 50% of the industry's total addressable market for the first time in 2026. The HBM market alone is forecast to grow from $35 billion in 2025 to approximately $100 billion by 2028. While the results position Micron as a primary beneficiary of the AI infrastructure buildout, investors should watch for signs of cyclical peak risk as memory prices historically exhibit boom-bust dynamics.