Micron Sells Out 2025 HBM Supply: Can It Meet Soaring Demand in 2026?

Micron Technology, Inc. MU confirmed during its third-quarter fiscal 2025 earnings call that its entire High Bandwidth Memory (“HBM”) supply for calendar year 2025 is sold out. This indicates strong demand for Micron Technology’s advanced memory chips, which are essential for artificial intelligence (AI)-focused computing platforms. The company also said that it is already working with customers to prepare for HBM demand in 2026.

HBM is becoming a key growth driver for Micron Technology. MU expects HBM demand to jump from around $18 billion in 2024 to $35 billion in 2025, with continued growth in 2026. Micron Technology believes that its next-gen HBM4 products, offering over 2 terabytes per second bandwidth and 20% lower power usage, will be crucial in meeting this rising demand.

In the third quarter, Micron Technology’s HBM revenues ramped up sharply. The company now expects its HBM market share to match its DRAM share in the second half of 2025, earlier than previously planned. Volume shipments of its 12-high HBM3E are underway, and HBM4 sampling has begun for 2026 platforms.

The challenge will be whether Micron Technology can scale fast enough. MU is expanding its backend manufacturing capacity and plans to bring more HBM capacity online in Singapore by 2027. Still, with HBM demand outpacing general DRAM growth, tight supply remains a risk.

At present, Micron Technology appears well-positioned in the AI memory race. However, maintaining momentum in 2026 will depend on continued execution in both technology and capacity expansion.

How Do Micron’s Rivals Stack Up in the HBM Race?

Although there are no U.S. stock exchange-listed direct competitors for MU in the memory chip space, Intel Corporation INTC and Broadcom Inc. AVGO play key roles in the HBM supply chain and AI hardware ecosystem.

Intel is developing its own AI accelerators that rely on high-performance memory like HBM. Although Intel doesn't manufacture HBM chips, its Gaudi AI chips will require a robust HBM supply, and any shift in memory partnerships could impact Micron's position.

Broadcom, on the other hand, designs custom application-specific integrated circuits used in AI infrastructure that often include integrated HBM. As demand for Broadcom’s AI chips grows, it could influence how HBM suppliers like Micron allocate their future supply.

Micron’s Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates

Shares of Micron Technology have risen around 49.7% year to date compared with the Zacks Computer – Integrated Systems industry’s gain of 28.1%.

From a valuation standpoint, MU trades at a forward price-to-sales ratio of 3.2, lower than the industry’s average of 3.92.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Micron Technology’s fiscal 2025 and 2026 earnings implies a year-over-year increase of approximately 433.1% and 52.4%, respectively. The estimates for fiscal 2025 have been revised upward in the past 60 days, while those for fiscal 2027 have moved south in the past seven days.

Micron Technology currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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