Is Micron the Next Nvidia?

1 hour ago 2

Anders Bylund, The Motley Fool

Sun, May 17, 2026 astatine 3:53 PM CDT 5 min read

Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU) is having a moment. The shaper of representation chips conscionable posted second-quarter fiscal 2026 gross of $23.9 billion, up 196% twelvemonth implicit year. Gross margins person scaled up past 70%, a fig that would person seemed absurd for a representation institution conscionable 3 years ago. The banal trades astatine a guardant P/E beneath 10, portion the semiconductor manufacture median is astir 30.

If you squint, it looks a batch similar Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) earlier everyone figured retired that the spot decorator would predominate the artificial quality (AI) hardware bonanza. So naturally, the question is circulating: Is Micron the adjacent Nvidia? I've spent immoderate clip with this question.

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The reply is no.

But the reasoning should archer you thing utile astir some companies.

Why the Nvidia examination is tempting

The Micron-as-Nvidia statement makes consciousness astatine archetypal glance.

Micron makes high-bandwidth memory, and AI accelerators request high-bandwidth representation the mode cars request wheels. There are lone 3 companies connected the satellite that tin marque it astatine scale: Micron, SK Hynix, and Samsung (OTC: SSNLF). The institution has confirmed its high-bandwidth representation capableness is 100% sold retired done calendar twelvemonth 2026, with shortages expected adjacent twelvemonth arsenic well.

Return connected equity is 40%. The addressable marketplace could deed $100 cardinal by 2028. If you're looking for pick-and-shovel AI plays, Micron is simply a beauteous compelling shovel. Just similar Nvidia, right?

Tollbooth vs. destination

Well, not exactly. Micron whitethorn beryllium a large AI investment, but it's fundamentally antithetic from Nvidia.

Nvidia designs the AI accelerators, controls the CUDA bundle ecosystem, and defines the architectural standards that the remainder of the manufacture builds around. Developers don't conscionable tolerate Nvidia's platform; they actively question it out.
Micron's representation is essential, but it's indispensable successful the mode that a road is indispensable to a taxable park. Customers walk done due to the fact that they person to, not due to the fact that they privation to. It's just to presume that Micron's customers would leap to Samsung oregon SK Hynix successful a heartbeat if the different supplier offered little prices (or immoderate different advantage).

This favoritism matters for semipermanent pricing power. Platform owners similar Nvidia tin grow their moats implicit clip done ecosystem lock-in. Component suppliers, adjacent captious ones specified arsenic Micron, stay susceptible to shifts successful the supply-and-demand balance.

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