Shares of Micron (MU) are surging about 11% to a new all-time intraday high at the time of writing as investor demand for memory chip stocks continues to build. However, today’s move got an extra boost from the credit rating agency Fitch, which upgraded Micron’s credit rating from BBB to BBB+ with a stable outlook. Fitch said that the upgrade is due to Micron’s improved financial position after the company paid down a significant amount of debt over the past year. This gave investors another reason to stay bullish on a stock that has already been one of the market’s strongest performers.
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For context, Micron makes memory chips that are used in products ranging from smartphones to AI servers, and demand from data centers has become a major growth engine. Fitch said that AI-related demand is improving Micron’s profitability and giving the company better near-term revenue visibility. In addition, large customers such as hyperscalers are increasingly looking for long-term supply agreements so they can lock in memory capacity.
Indeed, during recent earnings calls, Meta (META), Microsoft (MSFT), and Apple (AAPL) all pointed to higher memory costs, which suggests that supply is tightening as AI demand keeps rising. That explains why the stock has been moving so aggressively. More precisely, Micron is now up about 122% year-to-date and roughly 690% over the past year.
Is MU a Good Stock to Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on MU stock based on 27 Buys, three Holds, and zero Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. Furthermore, the average MU price target of $574.67 per share implies 10.3% downside risk.
