Micron Technology, the U.S. memory chipmaker that splits the global memory semiconductor market with Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and SK hynix (000660.KS), has crossed the $1 trillion market capitalization threshold on surging artificial intelligence (AI)-related demand. While South Korea grapples with internal worker disputes over performance bonuses, Micron has expanded its U.S. investment plans to $200 billion (about 300 trillion won), with the U.S. government also signaling aggressive support by wielding tariffs to keep competitors in check.
On the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, Micron closed at $895.88, up 19.29% from the previous trading day, lifting its market capitalization to $1.0103 trillion. It marks the 12th time a U.S. company has surpassed the $1 trillion market cap milestone.
The record single-day gain in Micron's history was driven by a report from global investment bank UBS. UBS said Micron's stock remained cheap relative to its expected earnings and more than tripled its 12-month price target to $1,625 from $535. Citing the long-term contracts Micron has secured, UBS set the new target at nearly twice the current share price. "As the structural changes that AI has brought to the memory industry become more concrete, the 're-rate' of Micron will continue," UBS said.
Micron is indeed posting massive earnings on the back of a boom in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and general-purpose DRAM markets. According to market research firm Counterpoint Research, Micron held a 23% share of the DRAM market and a 21% share of the HBM market as of the fourth quarter of last year, ranking third globally behind Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. Yet the company is on a roll, having already sold out its HBM production for this year. UBS further raised its earnings forecasts for Micron from 2027 through 2029, projecting that earnings per share (EPS) will surpass $100 and free cash flow will increase to more than $400 billion (about 601 trillion won). Based on Wall Street consensus, Micron's EPS this year is estimated at $40 to $50 with free cash flow of up to $40 billion. Micron's stock surged 239.1% last year and another 213.9% this year, but its earnings growth is on an even steeper trajectory.
Another reason Micron is drawing market attention is that it is plowing its expanded profits straight back into investment. On Saturday, Micron held an expansion ceremony at its memory semiconductor plant in Manassas, Virginia, announcing it would increase its U.S. investments to $200 billion from the previous $170 billion. The slogan at the event was "Memory Made in America," and the gathering drew U.S. administration officials as well as political figures including Democratic senators. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer hailed the move, saying, "Micron's $200 billion investment is a flagship example of the 'Made in America' policy."
The core of the $200 billion investment plan calls for boosting facility investment in Idaho, where Micron's headquarters is located, by $25 billion to $50 billion, and increasing research and development (R&D) and HBM packaging (back-end) investments to $50 billion from $45 billion. Earlier, on January 16, Micron broke ground on the largest semiconductor manufacturing facility ever built in U.S. history, a $100 billion project in New York State.
On January 17, Micron also announced it had acquired a plant from Taiwan's third-largest chipmaker, PSMC, for $1.8 billion, and that it would expand overseas DRAM production starting in the second half of next year. With these investments, Micron is determined to lift its DRAM market share to 40% within a decade and leap from third place to first place globally. Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said at the Virginia event, "The semiconductor supply shortage will continue beyond this year."
The Donald Trump administration has signaled full-throated support for Micron, with tariffs as its weapon. At the Micron expansion event, Greer said, "We will impose comprehensive product tariffs on semiconductors at an appropriate time," signaling an intent to discriminate between Micron's U.S.-made products and the Korea-manufactured products of Samsung Electronics or SK hynix. U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick also stressed at the groundbreaking ceremony for Micron's New York plant in January, referencing Taiwan, "If you don't build a plant in the United States, the tariff is likely to be 100%, and that is the stick, not the carrot."
While Micron prepares to grow at breakneck speed by expanding its corporate value, earnings, and investment scale, foreign media reports have piled up expressing concerns over worker conflicts at Samsung Electronics. Singapore's leading news outlet, The Straits Times, reported, "While some employees in the memory division are receiving bonuses of about 600 million won, those making smartphones, TVs, and home appliances can expect performance bonuses of just 6 million won," adding that "the 100-fold inequality in compensation is stirring strong anger within Samsung." Reuters, in reporting the passage of a tentative wage agreement, noted that "a five-month bitter dispute over performance bonuses tied to fast-growing AI chips has caused deep divisions among employees of the tech giant."
Beyond that, observers have raised the prospect that the massive performance bonuses at Samsung Electronics and SK hynix could fuel inflation across the broader Korean economy. Kwon Hyo-sung, an economist at Bloomberg Economics, estimated the after-tax bonus payouts from the two companies at 4 trillion won this year, 16 trillion won next year, and 30 trillion won by 2028, predicting that this could drive up housing prices and core inflation and prompt the Bank of Korea to tighten policy earlier than expected.
