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AI Storage Boom Aids NAND Demand: Can Micron Capitalize on the Trend?
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Key Takeaways
Micron's NAND revenues jumped 169% year over year and 82% sequentially to $5 billion in fiscal Q2.
Data center SSD demand drove MU's NAND growth, with data center NAND revenues more than doubling sequentially.
MU is expanding AI-focused SSD offerings, including G9 NAND PCIe Gen6 and 122TB high-capacity SSDs.
Micron Technology, Inc. (MU - Free Report) appears well-positioned to benefit from the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), which is creating a new growth cycle for the storage industry. As AI models become larger and more data-intensive, demand for storage solutions is rising across cloud and enterprise data centers. This trend is favoring Micron Technology’s NAND business.
In the second quarter of fiscal 2026, the company’s NAND revenues jumped 169% year over year and 82% sequentially to $5 billion, accounting for 21% of the total revenues. The robust sequential growth was mainly driven by low-single-digit growth in bit shipments and a high-70s percentage surge in the average selling price. The company witnessed continued strong demand for its data center SSD portfolio, aiding NAND growth. Its revenues from the data center NAND portfolio more than doubled sequentially in the second quarter.
The AI storage opportunity is significant. Training and inference workloads require rapid access to enormous datasets, increasing the need for enterprise SSDs. Technologies such as AI caching, vector databases and retrieval-augmented generation are further driving storage consumption. As a result, NAND demand is growing at a faster pace.
Micron Technology’s product portfolio strengthens its position. The company has expanded its data-center SSD offerings and introduced advanced storage solutions designed for AI environments, such as G9 NAND-based PCIe Gen6 high-performance data center SSDs and 122TB high-capacity SSDs. These products allow Micron Technology to target higher-value segments rather than relying solely on commodity NAND markets.
Supply conditions are another tailwind. Industry NAND capacity remains relatively disciplined, while new production additions take time to ramp up. This helps support healthier pricing and profitability. Micron Technology has also announced plans to expand NAND-related manufacturing capacity, though meaningful output from these investments is not expected until later in the decade.
The AI storage boom is creating a durable demand driver that could support Micron Technology’s NAND growth and market-share gains in the years ahead. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2026 NAND revenues is pegged at $23.72 billion, indicating a roughly three-fold jump from fiscal 2025’s $8.5 billion.
How Do Competitors Fare Against MU in Memory Market?
Sandisk Corporation (SNDK - Free Report) and Seagate Technology Holdings Plc (STX - Free Report) are two competitors that directly compete with Micron Technology in the memory market.
Sandisk operates as a pure-play NAND storage vendor with strong consumer and enterprise SSD partnerships. The company is highly focused on bringing advanced storage technologies and broad flash storage products for AI workloads in data centers, edge devices and consumer devices. Sandisk’s data center revenues increased 233% sequentially in the third quarter of fiscal 2026, mainly driven by strong demand for storage solutions from AI infrastructure builders, semi-custom customers and technology companies deploying AI at scale.
Seagate Technology is a major force in the hard-disk drive market, particularly for high-capacity storage solutions for data centers and cloud infrastructure. The company is also developing its presence in the SSD market through portfolio expansion and partnerships. In January 2026, Seagate Technology unveiled LaCie Rugged SSD Pro5, which offers ultra-fast Thunderbolt 5 speed for filmmakers, photographers and audio specialists.
Micron’s Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates
Shares of Micron Technology have surged around 249% year to date compared with the Zacks Computer and Technology sector’s return of 13.2%.
Micron Technology YTD Price Return Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
From a valuation standpoint, MU trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 10.42, significantly lower than the sector’s average of 24.01.
Micron Technology 12-Month Forward P/E Ratio
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Micron Technology’s fiscal 2026 and 2027 earnings implies a year-over-year increase of 626.5% and 75.6%, respectively. Bottom-line estimates for fiscal 2026 and 2027 have been revised upward in the past seven days.
View the Zacks #1 Rank List
Image: Bigstock
AI Storage Boom Aids NAND Demand: Can Micron Capitalize on the Trend?
Key Takeaways
Micron Technology, Inc. (MU - Free Report) appears well-positioned to benefit from the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), which is creating a new growth cycle for the storage industry. As AI models become larger and more data-intensive, demand for storage solutions is rising across cloud and enterprise data centers. This trend is favoring Micron Technology’s NAND business.
In the second quarter of fiscal 2026, the company’s NAND revenues jumped 169% year over year and 82% sequentially to $5 billion, accounting for 21% of the total revenues. The robust sequential growth was mainly driven by low-single-digit growth in bit shipments and a high-70s percentage surge in the average selling price. The company witnessed continued strong demand for its data center SSD portfolio, aiding NAND growth. Its revenues from the data center NAND portfolio more than doubled sequentially in the second quarter.
The AI storage opportunity is significant. Training and inference workloads require rapid access to enormous datasets, increasing the need for enterprise SSDs. Technologies such as AI caching, vector databases and retrieval-augmented generation are further driving storage consumption. As a result, NAND demand is growing at a faster pace.
Micron Technology’s product portfolio strengthens its position. The company has expanded its data-center SSD offerings and introduced advanced storage solutions designed for AI environments, such as G9 NAND-based PCIe Gen6 high-performance data center SSDs and 122TB high-capacity SSDs. These products allow Micron Technology to target higher-value segments rather than relying solely on commodity NAND markets.
Supply conditions are another tailwind. Industry NAND capacity remains relatively disciplined, while new production additions take time to ramp up. This helps support healthier pricing and profitability. Micron Technology has also announced plans to expand NAND-related manufacturing capacity, though meaningful output from these investments is not expected until later in the decade.
The AI storage boom is creating a durable demand driver that could support Micron Technology’s NAND growth and market-share gains in the years ahead. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2026 NAND revenues is pegged at $23.72 billion, indicating a roughly three-fold jump from fiscal 2025’s $8.5 billion.
How Do Competitors Fare Against MU in Memory Market?
Sandisk Corporation (SNDK - Free Report) and Seagate Technology Holdings Plc (STX - Free Report) are two competitors that directly compete with Micron Technology in the memory market.
Sandisk operates as a pure-play NAND storage vendor with strong consumer and enterprise SSD partnerships. The company is highly focused on bringing advanced storage technologies and broad flash storage products for AI workloads in data centers, edge devices and consumer devices. Sandisk’s data center revenues increased 233% sequentially in the third quarter of fiscal 2026, mainly driven by strong demand for storage solutions from AI infrastructure builders, semi-custom customers and technology companies deploying AI at scale.
Seagate Technology is a major force in the hard-disk drive market, particularly for high-capacity storage solutions for data centers and cloud infrastructure. The company is also developing its presence in the SSD market through portfolio expansion and partnerships. In January 2026, Seagate Technology unveiled LaCie Rugged SSD Pro5, which offers ultra-fast Thunderbolt 5 speed for filmmakers, photographers and audio specialists.
Micron’s Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates
Shares of Micron Technology have surged around 249% year to date compared with the Zacks Computer and Technology sector’s return of 13.2%.
Micron Technology YTD Price Return Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
From a valuation standpoint, MU trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 10.42, significantly lower than the sector’s average of 24.01.
Micron Technology 12-Month Forward P/E Ratio
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Micron Technology’s fiscal 2026 and 2027 earnings implies a year-over-year increase of 626.5% and 75.6%, respectively. Bottom-line estimates for fiscal 2026 and 2027 have been revised upward in the past seven days.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Micron Technology currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.