Key Points
The demand for high-bandwidth memory has sent Micron soaring.
Investors should not assume that cyclicality is dead.
Micron (NASDAQ: MU) has experienced extreme price swings during the past 17 months. Since hitting a low in April 2025, the stock has risen 15-fold.
That increase includes the 22% pullback in the stock price since its high in June, placing the semiconductor stock in an interesting but uncertain position heading into its Sept. 30 earnings report date. From some perspectives, the stock remains appealing despite its dramatic rise, but its history suggests it may not be as attractive as some analysts may think.
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Knowing that, should investors treat the stock as a buying opportunity ahead of the earnings announcement, or interpret the pullback as a warning and stay away from the memory giant?
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Micron's meteoric rise
One particular product offering is the primary reason for the stock's rise -- high-bandwidth memory (HBM).
Nvidia investors may talk about how that company's artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators are critical to AI development. However, HBM is nearly as critical.
HBM is not the same type of memory that powers most tech products. Instead, it is a 3D-stacked DRAM (dynamic random-access memory) designed for the enormous data throughput needed for AI, data-intensive workloads, and high-performance computing.
Micron is only one of three companies manufacturing this memory, along with Samsung and SK Hynix. Not surprisingly, demand for AI infrastructure is such that Micron and its peers cannot produce it fast enough.
That shortage has sent memory prices soaring, dramatically improving the company's financials. Revenue in the first three quarters of fiscal 2026 (ended May 28) was $79 billion, up 203% from the same period last year. That led to net income for the same time frame of $47 billion, compared with $5.3 billion during the same year-ago period.
In the near term, growth is on track to accelerate. Demand is so strong that analysts forecast Micron will end the fiscal year with a 247% revenue increase, then slow to 88% in fiscal 2027.
Despite those gains, Micron stock trades at only 21 times trailing earnings. At least on the surface, that makes Micron appear undervalued, which may motivate investors to buy more.
Why now could be a time for caution
However, Micron probably owes its low price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio to the nature of its business and the stock's history.
Memory is among the more cyclical parts of the semiconductor industry. High demand tends to drive memory prices higher, boosting profit. This is the company's current situation, and given the industry's behavior during the past 10 years, many analysts believe we are in a supercycle driving a longer-term bull market in chip stocks.
The problem comes when the cycle turns negative. Since memory is a commoditized product, shortages can give way to surpluses when demand slows, as it inevitably does. When supply exceeds demand, it usually causes memory prices to swoon and, typically, Micron's profits and stock price to crater.
That means at the current stock price, the P/E ratio could spike into the triple digits if net income were merely to fall back to fiscal 2025 levels. Under such conditions in the past, Micron stock has lost more than 50% of its value several times in its history and has experienced two declines exceeding 80%.
Admittedly, the memory boom may look like it will last forever right now, and the earnings announcement may well confirm the memory shortage isn't over. Still, semiconductor stocks have never escaped memory cycles in the past, and this time is likely no different. Thus, investors should probably be aware of this issue before buying Micron stock.
Investing in Micron stock
Given Micron's positioning, investors should approach its stock with caution heading into earnings.
Indeed, the industry is likely in a supercycle, and the boom does not appear to be over yet. Thus, investors could easily benefit by taking a position before the Sept. 30 announcement. Nonetheless, given the recent price moves, negative news is more likely to trigger sell-offs than in recent quarters.
That reality may make Micron a trade. If a down cycle begins sooner than expected, the drop could far exceed 22%. Given the risk of being stuck in a losing position for some time, it may not be a good time for buy-and-hold investors to add shares.
Will Healy has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Micron Technology and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.