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Investing.com - Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU) reported the strongest quarterly results in its history after Wednesday’s close, posting fiscal third-quarter 2026 revenue of $41.46 billion against a Wall Street consensus of $35.69 billion, a 16.2% beat, and earnings per share of $25.11 versus the $20.49 estimate, a 22.6% upside surprise.
The print sent Micron shares up roughly 17.2% in premarket trading to $1,228.09 by 04:33 ET (08:33 GMT), recovering from a regular-session close of $1,047.20.
The ripple effect across the semiconductor space was immediate and broad. SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) jumped approximately 12.6% premarket, Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) climbed a similar 11.7%, and Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) surged roughly 12.1%.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD) gained about 3.8%, while Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) gained 5.7%. Even Nvidia, the sector’s largest name by market capitalization at nearly $4.8 trillion, ticked up roughly 1.3%. The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) gained approximately 5.3% in premarket trade to around $633.50, after ending the regular session down 0.31% at $601.50.
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The blowout report arrived at a particularly fraught moment for the memory-chip trade. On Tuesday, chip stocks broadly retreated from record highs on concerns about AI spending, with SanDisk falling 12.4% and Western Digital losing 8.4% in a brutal sector-wide selloff. Micron itself had plunged 13.2% that session. Wednesday’s regular session offered little immediate relief, as Micron closed down another 0.44% before the earnings release changed the narrative entirely.
The scale of Micron’s beat reflects a near-quadrupling of revenue year-over-year, driven by a memory supply crunch that has sent prices sharply higher amid relentless AI data-center buildout. That same dynamic has powered an extraordinary re-rating of the stock: Micron’s 52-week range spans $103.38 to $1,213.56, and the stock had surged roughly 700% over the prior year before Wednesday’s session. SanDisk’s after-hours price of around $2,110 implies a gain of roughly 3,952% from its 52-week low of $40.10, the most extreme run in the memory-chip cohort.
For investors who weathered this week’s volatility, Wednesday’s print reads as a high-stakes vindication of the AI memory thesis. The question now is whether the after-hours momentum carries into Thursday’s open. Guidance for the fiscal fourth quarter will be closely parsed for signals on whether the memory pricing cycle has further room to run or is approaching a cyclical peak, forward guidance figures and commentary on next-generation HBM4 pricing were not yet available at the time the results crossed the wire. Analyst price-target revisions from major banks are also expected to follow in the hours ahead, and the company’s strategic customer agreements referenced in the earnings release warrant scrutiny for details on counterparties and deal scope.
The SOXX ETF’s after-hours level of around $625.94 would, if it holds, represent a meaningful recovery toward its 52-week high of $655.95 and a partial reversal of the two-session drawdown. Pre-market trading on Thursday, June 25, will be the first real test of whether Micron’s record quarter is enough to restore conviction in the AI chip cycle after this week’s jarring shakeout.
