Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) stock is 5.9% higher to trade at $451.18 today, after RBC hiked its price target to $525 from $425 and TD Cowen to $500 from $450. Micron is also planning to build a second memory chip site in Taiwan, with the news driving optimism that DRAM revenue will get a nice bump.
Micron stock is a chip shot from its Jan. 30 record high of $455.50, today pacing for its best daily pop in over a month. The shares are up 350% in the last 12 months and already 59% in 2026, forming a bullish flag pattern on the charts from that late-January peak.
Micron steps into the earnings confessional later this week, after the market closes on Wednesday, March 18. The stock has a negative post-earnings history, finishing lower after five of its last eight reports. However, MU gapped higher by 10.2% after its December earnings. For Thursday's trading, the options market is pricing in a 12.9% move, regardless of direction, larger than the average move of 9.3% over the last two years of reports.
Short-term options traders are focused on puts. MU's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.45 ranks higher than all other readings from the past 12 months. An unwinding of this pessimism could fuel additional tailwinds.
Plus, the stock's Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS) comes in at 91 out of 100. In other words, shares have consistently realized higher volatility than its options have priced in over the past 12 months.
