Micron Technology's NAND Revenues Reach $2.7B: Is It a Growth Lever?

Core Insights - Micron Technology (MU) reported a 22% sequential and year-over-year growth in NAND revenues for the first quarter of fiscal 2026, now accounting for 20% of its total revenue [1][10] - The growth is attributed to increased shipments and price rises due to tight industry supply and a favorable product mix [1] Group 1: Demand and Supply Dynamics - The management of Micron Technology highlighted that the constrained NAND supply amid rising demand will enable a 20% growth in shipments for 2026 [2] - Strong demand for G9 NAND is driven by its applications in data center solid state drives (SSDs) and client SSD products [2] - G9 NAND is expected to be the primary driver of NAND bit growth in calendar 2026, with the launch of the world's first PCIe Gen6 SSD further enhancing this momentum [3] Group 2: AI and Storage Solutions - Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a significant consumer of storage and memory products, with Micron leveraging its QLC NAND, including G9 QLC, to meet AI-driven storage demand [4] - The NAND technology is crucial for high-capacity data center use cases, with G9 SSDs entering qualification at multiple hyperscale customers [4][5] Group 3: Competitive Landscape - Micron Technology faces competition from Sandisk and Seagate Technology in the data storage market [6] - Sandisk reported a 26% sequential increase in data center revenues, driven by AI-related NAND demand [7] - Seagate is expanding its presence in the SSD market while maintaining a strong position in high-capacity HDD solutions [7] Group 4: Financial Performance and Valuation - Micron's shares have increased by 142.1% over the past six months, outperforming the Zacks Computer - Integrated Systems industry's growth of 51.1% [8] - In fiscal Q1, Micron's NAND revenues reached $2.7 billion, with data center NAND revenues exceeding $1 billion [10] - The company trades at a forward price-to-sales ratio of 4.33X, slightly above the industry average of 4.28X [11] Group 5: Earnings Estimates - The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Micron's fiscal 2026 earnings indicates a year-over-year growth of 278.3%, with upward revisions in estimates over the past 30 days [14]