Micron Technology(US:MU) Zhi Tong Cai Jing·2025-12-18 00:12Core Viewpoint - Micron Technology (MU.US) has provided an extremely optimistic earnings outlook for the current quarter, significantly exceeding Wall Street analysts' expectations, and has unexpectedly raised its capital expenditure for fiscal year 2026, indicating a strong demand for storage chips driven by the unprecedented global AI boom [1][2][3] Group 1: Earnings Outlook - Micron's revenue forecast for Q2 FY2026 is projected to be between $18.3 billion and $19.1 billion, compared to Wall Street's average expectation of $14.4 billion [3][4] - The company expects a gross margin of 67.0% under GAAP, significantly higher than the analysts' average expectation of 55.7% [4][10] - Micron's adjusted earnings per share for Q2 FY2026 is estimated to be between $8.22 and $8.62, while analysts had anticipated around $4.71 [3][4] Group 2: Market Dynamics - The demand for storage chips, particularly DRAM and NAND products, is surging due to the rapid expansion of AI data centers, leading Micron to halt sales to the PC/DIY market to focus on enterprise-level products [2][7] - Wall Street analysts predict that the overall sales of the DRAM industry will see over 100% year-on-year growth in 2026, with Micron being one of the biggest beneficiaries [2][3] - TrendForce has revised its revenue forecasts for the DRAM industry, expecting approximately $165.7 billion in 2025 (up 73% YoY) and $333.5 billion in 2026 (up 101% YoY) [2][3] Group 3: Competitive Position - Micron is strategically positioned as a key supplier for AI infrastructure, focusing on high-performance storage components essential for AI training and inference systems [9][11] - The company is expected to capture significant market share in the HBM storage systems and enterprise-level SSDs, which are critical for AI applications [14][15] - Micron's capital expenditure for fiscal year 2026 has been raised from $18 billion to $20 billion, reflecting its commitment to expanding production capacity in response to soaring demand [4][10]