Micron (MU) stock just got another major nod of approval from Wall Street, and the timing is telling.

Shares of the popular memory maker are up 10% over the past week, and Morgan Stanley sees even more upside, raising its price target to $450 from $350 while reiterating an overweight rating.

The bullishness stems from the fact that memory pricing power continues to go from strength to strength.

Micron and other memory makers have been on a killer run as AI infrastructure spending rises at an exponential pace. High-bandwidth memory (HBM) has become mission-critical for AI accelerators, and supply has struggled to keep pace.

Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra discussed AI’s insatiable demand for memory during a recent CNBC interview at Davos.

And AI’s relentless appetite for memory isn’t slowing down anytime soon, per Seeking Alpha and according to Samsung Electronics CTO Song Jai-hyuk. 

Speaking at Semicon Korea 2026, he said that AI-linked infrastructure demand should remain strong through at least 2027, with the tech titan ramping up mass production of its sixth-generation HBM4 chips.

“Memory and packaging are no longer supporting roles,” said Clark Tseng of Semi, a semiconductor research and analysis outfit. “They are now critical to how fast AI infrastructure can scale.”

Additionally, Lenovo said memory costs jumped 40% to 50% in the past quarter and could double in the current one.

That’s exactly the setup that’s pushing Micron stock to record highs, up 44%year to date, despite broader market sluggishness.

The ongoing AI infrastructure buildout is expanding rapidly, positioning Micron well for the remainder of the year.

Morgan Stanley’s latest Micron call highlights shifting dynamics in the memory market.

Photo by SOPA Images on Getty Images

Where Wall Street sees Micron stock heading next

  • Micron is trading at $410.34 (as of Feb. 12, 2026).
    Morgan Stanley: $450 (+9.7%)

    UBS: $450 (+9.7%)

    Deutsche Bank: $500 (+21.9%)

    Wells Fargo: $410 (-0.1%)

    Citigroup: $385 (-6.2%)

Morgan Stanley sees pricing power getting stronger, not weaker

Morgan Stanley’s Joseph Moore is making the case that, despite the eye-opening run in DRAM over the past year, the cycle is only tightening. 

“As much as happened in the last 12 months in DRAM, we remain excited for what’s ahead,” he wrote. The key element to consider at this point is supply, or rather, the lack of it.

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The numbers back up the bullishness:

  • DDR5 spot pricing up 30% YTD
  • Spot prices are 130% above January contract levels (up 86% from December).
  • Mainstream pricing could double again while still sitting at more than 10% below spot.
  • ASPs could approach the high-teens per GB.

That’s tremendous pricing leverage.

Moreover, Moore now expects Micron to earn as much as $52 per share in 2026, speahreaded by HBM demand tied to Nvidia. “HBM is certainly a key part of the story here,” he noted, but added that DDR5 pricing alone is now “a much more attractive market right now.”

Micron is smaller in HBM, but the gap is narrowing

AI accelerators have been gobbling up HBM, and businesses that can efficiently ship product at scale continue to win over investor confidence.

At this point, though, the scoreboard in the memory space is clear.

In DRAM, SK hynix leads the charge with 33.2% market share, followed by Samsung at 32.6%, with Micron at 25.7%. 

In HBM, which is the critical part for AI GPUs, the gap is wider. 

Related: Top analyst revamps Apple stock price target

SK hynix currently dominates with a 53% market share, Samsung holds 35%, and Micron trails at 11%. 

In NAND, Samsung leads at 32.3%, SK hynix follows at 19.3%.

So clearly, SK hynix is the stand-out company that’s dominating the HBM scene and will likely capture the bulk of Nvidia’s early Rubin volume. Also, Samsung is moving aggressively to ramp HBM4 shipments and close the gap. 

At the same time, despite Micron being a much smaller player in HBM, it’s ramping HBM4 and benefiting from the broader memory crunch.

It’s important to note that Micron is already in high-volume production on HBM4, having sold out its 2026 supply.

Micron stock crushes the S&P 500 across every major time frame

  • YTD: Micron +43.77% versus S&P 500 +1.40%
  • 1-year: Micron +336.16% versus S&P 500 +14.38%
  • 3-year: Micron +585.96% versus S&P 500 +69.70%
  • 5-year: Micron +374.49% versus S&P 500 +77.24%
  • 10-year: Micron +4,134.67% versus S&P 500 +279.50%
    Source: Seeking Alpha

Related: JPMorgan doubles down on S&P 500 target for one key reason