What Happened?
Shares of memory chips maker Micron (NYSE: MU) fell 3.3% in the afternoon session after the company announced its decision to exit the crucial consumer memory business to focus on more strategic growth areas. This move involved shutting down its well-known "Crucial" brand, which sold products like RAM and SSDs. The company stated it would redirect resources toward the rapidly growing demand for advanced memory chips used in artificial intelligence (AI) and data centers. While the company planned to continue shipping consumer products until early 2026 to ensure a smooth transition, the announcement marked a significant shift in its business focus. The stock's drop suggested investor concern regarding the strategic change.
The shares closed the day at $226.34, down 3.4% from previous close.
The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks. Is now the time to buy Micron? Access our full analysis report here.
What Is The Market Telling Us
Micron’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 37 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 10 days ago when the stock gained 7.2% on the news that several Wall Street analysts expressed a positive outlook on the company, with Morgan Stanley raising its price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley adjusted its price target on Micron Technology to $338 from $325. This move was part of a broader trend of positive sentiment from the financial community, as other research analysts also commented favorably on the company. In the preceding months, firms including Citigroup, Wedbush, and Piper Sandler had also boosted their price objectives. This optimism was rooted in the company's strong performance, which was driven by increasing memory demand from data center operators for artificial intelligence (AI) applications. Micron had been transforming itself into a key player for AI-optimized memory and storage.
Micron is up 160% since the beginning of the year, but at $226.74 per share, it is still trading 10.5% below its 52-week high of $253.30 from November 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Micron’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $3,092.
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