US chipmaker Micron’s emblem hangs on the China Worldwide Import Expo held in Shanghai in November 2025. (Reuters/Yonhap)
US chipmaker Micron took the world unexpectedly on Wednesday (native time) by saying earnings that far exceeded market expectations, proving that the substitute intelligence funding growth is fueling a semiconductor tremendous cycle.
Expectations are excessive as South Korean firms akin to Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are projected to showcase mixed working income exceeding an unprecedented 200 trillion received in 2026.
Micron Expertise introduced that its income for the primary quarter of the 2026 fiscal 12 months (September to November 2025) totaled US$13.64 billion on Wednesday. This marked the most important quarterly income within the firm’s historical past, exhibiting a whopping improve of 56.6%, in comparison with the identical interval final 12 months. This was additionally a 20.5% quarter-over-quarter improve.
The corporate’s first-quarter working revenue spiked 182.9% year-on-year and 68.2% quarter-on-quarter to US$6.14 billion. Micron’s adjusted earnings per share (EPS) had been at US$4.78, with each income and EPS considerably exceeding Wall Avenue expectations.
Micron, the primary main chipmaker to report earnings, is commonly dubbed the barometer for the worldwide reminiscence chip market. Extreme shortages in high-bandwidth reminiscence (HBM) for AI knowledge facilities and general-purpose reminiscence like DRAM have led to record-breaking efficiency from the corporate.
Sanjay Mehrotra, the CEO of Micron, acknowledged through the earnings name that day that “sustained and powerful trade demand, together with provide constraints, are contributing to tight market circumstances, and we count on these circumstances to persist past calendar 2026.”
“Within the medium time period, we’re solely capable of meet about 50% to two-thirds of our demand from a number of key prospects,” he added.
The assertion demonstrates that the HBM provide slated for 2026 has already bought out, resulting in a continuation of provide shortages within the foreseeable future.
Manish Bhatia, the manager vp at Micron, appeared shocked by this imbalance, saying that the present scenario is “probably the most vital disconnect between demand and provide when it comes to magnitude in addition to time horizon that we’ve skilled in [his] 25 years within the trade.”
Micron anticipates continued fast progress, anticipating income of US$18.7 million for the second quarter of fiscal 12 months 2026, a 37.1% improve from the primary quarter. It additionally projected the HBM market to develop at an annual charge of roughly 40%, reaching US$100 billion by 2028. In response to this growth in demand, Micron plans to extend its capital expenditure for fiscal 12 months 2026 from US$18 billion to US$20 billion.
Income projections for Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, the 2 firms competing for the highest spot within the world reminiscence market share, are being revised each day.
Funding firms, each worldwide and home, imagine that, regardless of issues over an AI bubble, the 2 firms will trip a fully-fledged reminiscence tremendous cycle in 2026, with their mixed annual working revenue reaching as much as 200 trillion received.
The 2 rivals are accelerating their efforts as they jockey for the crown within the world reminiscence market.
SK Hynix revealed Thursday that, out of all its rivals, it turned the primary to realize Intel certification for a DDR5 server reminiscence module with the very best capability within the trade. The identical day, Samsung Electronics introduced that it developed a low-power server reminiscence module known as SOCAMM2, geared towards use in AI knowledge facilities, which have since been provided to Nvidia.
By Park Jong-o, workers reporter
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