- Micron shares fell to an intraday low of $1,032 amid rising crude and Treasury yields
- Semiconductor stocks Sky Hynix and Intel also declined due to inflation and rate concerns
- Crude price rise followed renewed uncertainty in US-Iran talks, fueling inflation fears
Micron Technology shares came under pressure on Monday, falling to an intraday low of $1,032 as rising crude prices and higher US Treasury yields weighed on technology stocks. The stock later recovered part of the decline, even as financial service firm Baird raised its price target sharply and retained an outperform rating.
Micron fell as much as 4.6% from its previous close of $1,082.28 to the session low of $1,032, before trimming losses.
Other semiconductor stocks Sky Hynix (-4%) and Intel (-5.5%) also faced selling pressure as higher oil prices and surging Treasury yields increased concerns around inflation and interest rates. The broader semiconductor sector was also lower during the session.
The market pressure came as crude prices climbed after renewed uncertainty around US-Iran talks. Higher energy costs are raising concerns that inflation could remain elevated, while Treasury yields moved above 5.2%, increasing the discount rate applied to high-growth technology companies.
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Despite the near-term weakness, Baird lifted its Micron price target to $1,520 from $1,280 and maintained its outperform rating. The new target is about 40% above Friday's closing price of $1,082.28, as per Investing dot com reports.
Baird analyst Tristan Gerra cited stronger demand linked to AI agents, slower industry-wide memory supply growth and higher expected margins for high-bandwidth memory, or HBM.
Baird expects AI-related demand to support further expansion in memory requirements, while supply growth is expected to moderate next year.
The brokerage forecasts industry DRAM supply growth to slow from more than 30% in 2026 to around 20% in 2027. HBM supply growth is expected to remain around 60%, keeping the memory market tight. Gerra expects shortages to persist into 2027.
Baird also expects Micron to benefit from firmer memory pricing. It forecasts DRAM contract prices rising 20% in the third quarter and another 10% in the fourth quarter.
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Enterprise DDR5 prices are projected to increase another 15%-20% in the fourth quarter. The firm expects HBM gross margins at Micron and SK Hynix to exceed 80% in 2027, while server unit growth could accelerate next year.
At 12:10 p.m. ET, Micron was trading at $1,044.87, down 3.46%, but about 1.25% above its intraday low of $1,032, according to the market data.
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