Markets MU JUN 28, 2026

Micron Revenue Surges 346% to $41.5B, Guides Q4 to $50B as OpenAI IPO Delay Rattles AI Trade

MU jumped 15% to $1,213 on a Q4 sales forecast that beat consensus by roughly $7B, before a Times report that OpenAI may push its debut to 2027 cooled the rally.

BY HENLEY MARRAST · MARKETS DESK

Micron Technology closed Thursday up 15% at $1,213 after reporting fiscal Q3 revenue of $41.46 billion, a 346% jump from $9.3 billion a year earlier, and guiding Q4 sales to roughly $50 billion against a $43.2 billion consensus. The intraday market value briefly pushed MU above Meta and Tesla, per CNBC, before a New York Times report on Friday that OpenAI’s advisors are urging a debut delay into 2027 punctured the AI-trade exuberance.

The print itself is the cleanest demonstration yet that the HBM cycle has stopped behaving like a commodity memory cycle. GAAP net income hit $28.24 billion ($24.67 diluted), non-GAAP EPS came in at $25.11, and operating cash flow reached $25.39 billion against $7.1 billion in capex, leaving $18.3 billion of adjusted free cash flow and $30.2 billion in cash and marketable investments. Q4 non-GAAP EPS is guided to about $31 versus a $25.31 consensus, per Bloomberg.

The structural story sits underneath the headline beat. Micron disclosed 16 long-term agreements totaling $22 billion in three- to five-year commitments spanning hyperscalers, data centers, and automakers, with RBC Capital Markets analysts estimating roughly 40% of revenue will flow through contracts carrying minimum prices. A June 22 strategic agreement with Anthropic to scale next-generation AI infrastructure anchors that book. HBM4 is shipping in volume; HBM4E is targeted for 2027.

CEO Sanjay Mehrotra framed the shift bluntly: “multi-year Strategic Customer Agreements will significantly enhance the durability and predictability of Micron’s strong financial performance.”

That’s the pitch, and it’s why the tape moved together. Sandisk closed up nearly 22%, Western Digital added about 5%, Seagate rose 3.23%.

Then Friday arrived. The Times reported OpenAI advisors floating a 2027 debut, citing concerns about retail appetite after SpaceX’s post-IPO trajectory. Kalshi traders now put the odds of an OpenAI IPO announcement by March 1, 2027 at 59%, and by June 2027 at 73%. Anthropic, whose confidential S-1 landed in early June alongside OpenAI’s June 8 filing, sits at 70% odds of announcing by December.

The juxtaposition is the trade. Memory suppliers are locking in multi-year minimums on the assumption that the demand curve is structural; the demand-side flagship is being counseled to wait two years before testing public markets. Both can be true. Only one is bankable on a five-year contract.

Sources

About the author

Henley Marrast

MARKETS DESK

Henley Marrast covers AI-equity flow, accelerator demand, and earnings prints for AI Sheet Report. She leads coverage of the public AI complex from the New York markets desk, with a focus on the daily tape and quarterly results. She has been writing about technology markets for several years.