During the May 26 regular trading and the subsequent extended session, the memory giant Micron (NASDAQ: MU) enjoyed one of the fastest stock market rallies of any major company in 2026.
Indeed, MU shares soared 19.29% between the morning and closing bells from $751 to $895.88, and, by press time early in the May 27 pre-market, the equity rallied another 4.87% to $939.50.
Furthermore, the latest Micron stock move came after an already remarkably fast upsurge. While MU shares are up 184.03% year-to-date (YTD), they rocketed 178.40% since March 30, finally pushing the company above a market cap of $1 trillion by Wednesday morning.
Why Micron stock just soared more than 20% in a day
Though an apparent endorsement from President Donald Trump drew much attention on Tuesday and helped the rally keep pace, the instigator of the move arguably came in the form of a Wall Street analyst note issued by UBS.
Additionally, the note serves as a strong argument that, despite the latest upsurge indicating a steep correction is likely to precede any future movements, Micron stock remains a ‘Strong Buy.’
Why Micron stock is a long-term ‘Buy’ despite the staggering upsurge
Specifically, along with estimating that MU shares will trade at $1625 in the next 12 months – a notable upgrade from the previous $535 forecast – UBS’ Timothy Arcuri assessed that the memory giant’s annual earnings per share (EPS) will stabilize above $100 amidst growing demand and undersupply expected to persist to late 2027 and early 2028.
Notably, the predicted EPS not only constitutes substantial growth for Micron – the most recent yearly EPS stood at $21.18 – but also indicates that the firm’s fundamentals remain remarkably strong with a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) slightly below 10.
For comparison, the figure for Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) – generally viewed as a cheap stock despite its growth in recent years – stands at 21.60, and for Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) at 33.82.
NVDA stock is up 13.77% in 2026, and AAPL shares rose 13.77% to MU equity’s 184.03% within the same timeframe.
The Micron stock bear case
Still, though the outlook for Micron investors appears nothing short of stellar, it is worth noting that short-term performance could prove volatile as the confidence given by President Trump and Timothy Arcuri is unlikely to entirely negate the impact of the remarkable selling opportunity presented by the latest rally.
Similarly, MU shares’ continued rise is contingent on the continuation of the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, which, despite the widespread executive and analyst confidence, remains somewhat dubious as big tech has been evasive in terms of providing AI revenue and profits numbers, and data center construction remains rife with delays and cancellations.
Featured image via Shutterstock
