Micron CEO says AI is changing memory’s boom-and-bust cycle

Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said artificial intelligence has changed the memory industry's traditional boom-and-bust cycle by creating sustained demand for high-bandwidth memory and other data-center products. Micron expects fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $50 billion, plus or minus $1 billion, with an approximately 86% gross margin, and said HBM4 is already shipping in high volume for a lead customer's platform. TrendForce forecasts mobile DRAM contract prices will rise 8% to 13% sequentially in the third quarter, and SK hynix reported HBM pricing 6.1% above consensus and raised 2026 capital-spending guidance to the high-40-trillion-Korean-won range.

Micron CEO says AI is changing memory’s boom-and-bust cycle - Micron expects fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $50 billion, plus or minus $1 billion, with an approximately 86% gross margin. 1 https://micron.gcs-web.com/news-releases/news-release-details/micron-technology-inc-reports-record-results-third-quarter - TrendForce forecasts mobile DRAM contract prices will rise 8% to 13% sequentially in the third quarter as suppliers prioritize server and HBM demand. 2 https://www.trendforce.com/research/download/RP260803NC - SK hynix reported HBM pricing 6.1% above consensus and raised 2026 capital-spending guidance to the high-40-trillion-Korean-won range. 3 https://www.spglobal.com/market-intelligence/en/news-insights/research/2026/08/sk-hynix-postq-profit-beat-offsets-revenue-miss Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said artificial intelligence has changed the memory industry’s traditional boom-and-bust pattern by creating sustained demand for high-bandwidth memory and other data-center products. “The value of memory, that equation has totally changed,” Mehrotra said in a CNBC interview on August 20. 4 https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/micron-ceo-sanjay-mehrotra-says-120342234.html Micron’s own forecast supports the bullish demand case. The company expects fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $50 billion, plus or minus $1 billion, and an approximately 86% gross margin. It also said HBM4 is already shipping in high volume for a lead customer’s platform, with HBM4E production expected to begin in calendar 2027. 1 https://micron.gcs-web.com/news-releases/news-release-details/micron-technology-inc-reports-record-results-third-quarter Prices remain supported by HBM demand The pricing pressure extends beyond HBM. TrendForce expects mobile DRAM contract prices to rise 8% to 13% quarter over quarter in the third quarter of 2026, although it says negotiations have become less urgent as some buyers rebuild inventories. Suppliers’ shift toward server and HBM applications is expected to support prices into the fourth quarter. 2 https://www.trendforce.com/research/download/RP260803NC Competitor results point in the same direction. SK hynix said HBM pricing exceeded consensus by 6.1% in its second quarter, while management maintained a constructive view of AI-memory demand and lifted 2026 capital-spending guidance to the high-40-trillion-Korean-won range. 3 Micron, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix remain the key suppliers competing for the HBM market as AI-system builders expand data-center capacity. Companies mentioned Further sources 1 Micron’s fiscal fourth-quarter 2026 guidance calls for $50 billion in revenue, … ↗ https://micron.gcs-web.com/news-releases/news-release-details/micron-technology-inc-reports-record-results-third-quarter 2 TrendForce forecasts third-quarter 2026 mobile DRAM contract-price increases of… ↗ https://www.trendforce.com/research/download/RP260803NC 3 S&P Global’s Visible Alpha analysis says SK hynix’s HBM pricing outperformed co… ↗ https://www.spglobal.com/market-intelligence/en/news-insights/research/2026/08/sk-hynix-postq-profit-beat-offsets-revenue-miss 4 Yahoo Finance’s syndicated summary of CNBC’s August 20 interview quotes Micron … ↗ https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/micron-ceo-sanjay-mehrotra-says-120342234.html The stories that matter, in one email. Free — unsubscribe anytime.