Diverging Volatility Trends in U.S. Stocks
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: 1 hour ago
0mins
Source: CNBC
- Current Market Volatility: While the S&P 500's volatility has dropped to its lowest level since January at 15.6, individual stock volatility remains near a one-year high, indicating a divergence that could impact investors' risk management strategies.
- Disparity Between Stocks and Index: The gap between Cboe's individual stock volatility index VIXEQ and VIX has reached its widest level since January 2023, suggesting increased investor focus on individual stocks, particularly driven by catalysts like AI and earnings.
- Trading Surge in Semiconductors: The implied volatility of the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) is nearing 50%, the highest in a year, with gross options premiums traded across semiconductors 25% above the previous record from March 2024, reflecting strong market interest in the sector.
- Investor Sentiment and Future Outlook: Small traders are actively buying expensive single-stock options, and despite market divergence, the likelihood of a broader market collapse appears low until major IPOs like SpaceX and Anthropic are absorbed by the marketplace.
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Analyst Views on MU
Wall Street analysts forecast MU stock price to fall
26 Analyst Rating
24 Buy
2 Hold
0 Sell
Strong Buy
Current: 923.520
Low
235.00
Averages
336.12
High
500.00
Current: 923.520
Low
235.00
Averages
336.12
High
500.00
About MU
Micron Technology, Inc. provides memory and storage solutions. The Company delivers a portfolio of high-performance dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), NAND, and NOR memory and storage products through its Micron and Crucial brands. The Company's products enable advancing in artificial intelligence (AI) and compute-intensive applications. Its segments include Cloud Memory Business Unit (CMBU), Core Data Center Business Unit (CDBU), Mobile and Client Business Unit (MCBU) and Automotive and Embedded Business Unit (AEBU). CMBU is focused on memory solutions for large hyperscale cloud customers, and high bandwidth memory (HBM) for all data center customers. CDBU is focused on memory solutions for mid-tier cloud, enterprise, and OEM data center customers and storage solutions for all data center customers. MCBU is focused on memory and storage solutions for mobile and client segments. AEBU is focused on memory and storage solutions for the automotive, industrial, and consumer segments.
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
Micron Technology Surpasses $1 Trillion Market Cap for First Time
- Market Cap Milestone: On May 26, Micron Technology surpassed a $1 trillion market cap for the first time, following an explosive 830% stock price increase over the past 12 months, becoming the third American semiconductor company to reach this milestone, which underscores its strong position in the high-bandwidth memory market.
- Significant Sales Growth: Micron generated $23.8 billion in revenue during its fiscal 2026 second quarter, marking a 196% year-over-year increase, with both cloud memory and mobile client segments contributing $7.7 billion each, reflecting robust demand for AI-related memory solutions.
- Profitability Surge: The severe memory supply shortage allowed Micron to increase its pricing power, resulting in a staggering 756% increase in earnings per share to $12.07 during the second quarter, pushing its trailing 12-month earnings to $21.18, showcasing the company's strong financial performance in the current market.
- Future Growth Outlook: Management anticipates record revenue of $33.5 billion for the third quarter of fiscal 2026, representing a 260% year-over-year increase, indicating that despite valuation concerns, Micron's long-term growth potential in the AI sector remains highly regarded.
See More
Micron Technology Price Targets Raised to $1,500 Amid Strong Demand
- Price Target Increase: Mizuho raised Micron Technology's price target from $800 to $1,150 while maintaining a 'Buy' rating, anticipating robust memory demand to persist into next year, which implies a 25% upside from the last close.
- Strategic Partnership: Anthropic named Micron as one of its 'strategic infrastructure partners' during its $65 billion fundraising announcement, which will aid Anthropic in reliably scaling its compute capacity, further solidifying Micron's position in the AI sector.
- Strong Market Performance: Micron's shares rose 1% in pre-market trading on Thursday, with a year-to-date increase of 224%, reflecting strong market confidence in its future growth, particularly amid surging demand for data centers and AI systems.
- Optimistic Earnings Outlook: Micron is expected to report a 263% year-over-year revenue increase to $33.8 billion in its fiscal third-quarter results on June 24, setting a record high, with adjusted earnings projected to rise over 900% to $19.29 per share, further boosting investor confidence.
See More
Palantir Technologies Consolidates in Range-Bound Trading
- Technical Setup: Palantir's stock has been consolidating between $130 and $160, with market optimism suggesting a potential breakout above $160 to retest the all-time high of $207.52.
- Business Model Strength: The company's Artificial Intelligence Platform is demonstrating strong monetization capabilities by compressing the typical corporate software sales cycle from nine months to less than five days, enhancing its competitiveness among free-cash-flow-positive enterprise platforms.
- Defensive Spending Opportunity: The recent federal investment of over $2 billion under the CHIPS Act signals a unique market opportunity for Palantir, positioning it to potentially benefit from the next wave of defensive capital.
- Institutional Investor Behavior: Institutional accumulation occurs aggressively whenever the stock approaches $130, reflecting confidence in Palantir's future performance, while the $160 resistance level provides support for bearish positions.
See More
Diverging Volatility Trends in U.S. Stocks
- Current Market Volatility: While the S&P 500's volatility has dropped to its lowest level since January at 15.6, individual stock volatility remains near a one-year high, indicating a divergence that could impact investors' risk management strategies.
- Disparity Between Stocks and Index: The gap between Cboe's individual stock volatility index VIXEQ and VIX has reached its widest level since January 2023, suggesting increased investor focus on individual stocks, particularly driven by catalysts like AI and earnings.
- Trading Surge in Semiconductors: The implied volatility of the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) is nearing 50%, the highest in a year, with gross options premiums traded across semiconductors 25% above the previous record from March 2024, reflecting strong market interest in the sector.
- Investor Sentiment and Future Outlook: Small traders are actively buying expensive single-stock options, and despite market divergence, the likelihood of a broader market collapse appears low until major IPOs like SpaceX and Anthropic are absorbed by the marketplace.
See More
Market Dynamics and Corporate Performance Analysis
- Dell's Quarter Performance: Dell reported a quarter that exceeded expectations, with shares rising over 30%, indicating strong performance across all business levels, particularly in data center servers, which is expected to boost overall market confidence.
- Costco Membership Renewal Rates Up: Costco's latest earnings report showed improved membership renewal rates in the U.S. and Canada; although market reaction was muted, record performance in its gas business is likely to enhance membership loyalty and solidify its market position.
- Anthropic Surpasses OpenAI: Anthropic raised $65 billion at a $965 billion valuation, becoming the most valuable AI startup, a significant increase from $380 billion in February, showcasing explosive revenue growth and wealth creation potential in the AI sector.
- Cybersecurity Market Volatility: Okta beat expectations in its earnings report, with shares rising over 8%, while Zscaler's stock fell due to disappointing guidance, highlighting a divergence in the cybersecurity industry that affected the performance of other companies, including CrowdStrike.
See More
Micron and Sandisk Price Targets Raised Amid Memory Strength
- Price Target Increase: Susquehanna raised Micron's price target from $600 to $1,750 and Sandisk's from $2,000 to $3,250, reflecting sustained strength in the memory and storage markets, which enhances investor confidence in both companies.
- Strong DRAM Market: Analyst Mehdi Hosseini noted that the strength in DRAM is primarily driven by rising commodity prices, with a greater share of DRAM bits allocated to HBM and server applications, which is expected to boost future revenue growth and market share.
- Growing NAND Demand: Incremental demand from AI inferencing is driving stronger bit demand for NAND, with expectations of further ASP increases into the second half of 2026, indicating the companies' competitive edge in emerging technology sectors.
- Supply Chain Constraints: While enterprise SSD demand is expected to accelerate from Q2 to Q3, tight memory supply may lead OEMs to face lower shipment volumes in the second half, potentially pushing server and storage system shipments into the first half of 2027, impacting overall market dynamics.
See More
Micron Technology Surpasses $1 Trillion Market Cap for First Time
- Market Cap Milestone: On May 26, Micron Technology surpassed a $1 trillion market cap for the first time, following an explosive 830% stock price increase over the past 12 months, becoming the third American semiconductor company to reach this milestone, which underscores its strong position in the high-bandwidth memory market.
- Significant Sales Growth: Micron generated $23.8 billion in revenue during its fiscal 2026 second quarter, marking a 196% year-over-year increase, with both cloud memory and mobile client segments contributing $7.7 billion each, reflecting robust demand for AI-related memory solutions.
- Profitability Surge: The severe memory supply shortage allowed Micron to increase its pricing power, resulting in a staggering 756% increase in earnings per share to $12.07 during the second quarter, pushing its trailing 12-month earnings to $21.18, showcasing the company's strong financial performance in the current market.
- Future Growth Outlook: Management anticipates record revenue of $33.5 billion for the third quarter of fiscal 2026, representing a 260% year-over-year increase, indicating that despite valuation concerns, Micron's long-term growth potential in the AI sector remains highly regarded.
See More
Micron Technology Price Targets Raised to $1,500 Amid Strong Demand
- Price Target Increase: Mizuho raised Micron Technology's price target from $800 to $1,150 while maintaining a 'Buy' rating, anticipating robust memory demand to persist into next year, which implies a 25% upside from the last close.
- Strategic Partnership: Anthropic named Micron as one of its 'strategic infrastructure partners' during its $65 billion fundraising announcement, which will aid Anthropic in reliably scaling its compute capacity, further solidifying Micron's position in the AI sector.
- Strong Market Performance: Micron's shares rose 1% in pre-market trading on Thursday, with a year-to-date increase of 224%, reflecting strong market confidence in its future growth, particularly amid surging demand for data centers and AI systems.
- Optimistic Earnings Outlook: Micron is expected to report a 263% year-over-year revenue increase to $33.8 billion in its fiscal third-quarter results on June 24, setting a record high, with adjusted earnings projected to rise over 900% to $19.29 per share, further boosting investor confidence.
See More
Palantir Technologies Consolidates in Range-Bound Trading
- Technical Setup: Palantir's stock has been consolidating between $130 and $160, with market optimism suggesting a potential breakout above $160 to retest the all-time high of $207.52.
- Business Model Strength: The company's Artificial Intelligence Platform is demonstrating strong monetization capabilities by compressing the typical corporate software sales cycle from nine months to less than five days, enhancing its competitiveness among free-cash-flow-positive enterprise platforms.
- Defensive Spending Opportunity: The recent federal investment of over $2 billion under the CHIPS Act signals a unique market opportunity for Palantir, positioning it to potentially benefit from the next wave of defensive capital.
- Institutional Investor Behavior: Institutional accumulation occurs aggressively whenever the stock approaches $130, reflecting confidence in Palantir's future performance, while the $160 resistance level provides support for bearish positions.
See More
Diverging Volatility Trends in U.S. Stocks
- Current Market Volatility: While the S&P 500's volatility has dropped to its lowest level since January at 15.6, individual stock volatility remains near a one-year high, indicating a divergence that could impact investors' risk management strategies.
- Disparity Between Stocks and Index: The gap between Cboe's individual stock volatility index VIXEQ and VIX has reached its widest level since January 2023, suggesting increased investor focus on individual stocks, particularly driven by catalysts like AI and earnings.
- Trading Surge in Semiconductors: The implied volatility of the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) is nearing 50%, the highest in a year, with gross options premiums traded across semiconductors 25% above the previous record from March 2024, reflecting strong market interest in the sector.
- Investor Sentiment and Future Outlook: Small traders are actively buying expensive single-stock options, and despite market divergence, the likelihood of a broader market collapse appears low until major IPOs like SpaceX and Anthropic are absorbed by the marketplace.
See More
Market Dynamics and Corporate Performance Analysis
- Dell's Quarter Performance: Dell reported a quarter that exceeded expectations, with shares rising over 30%, indicating strong performance across all business levels, particularly in data center servers, which is expected to boost overall market confidence.
- Costco Membership Renewal Rates Up: Costco's latest earnings report showed improved membership renewal rates in the U.S. and Canada; although market reaction was muted, record performance in its gas business is likely to enhance membership loyalty and solidify its market position.
- Anthropic Surpasses OpenAI: Anthropic raised $65 billion at a $965 billion valuation, becoming the most valuable AI startup, a significant increase from $380 billion in February, showcasing explosive revenue growth and wealth creation potential in the AI sector.
- Cybersecurity Market Volatility: Okta beat expectations in its earnings report, with shares rising over 8%, while Zscaler's stock fell due to disappointing guidance, highlighting a divergence in the cybersecurity industry that affected the performance of other companies, including CrowdStrike.
See More
Micron and Sandisk Price Targets Raised Amid Memory Strength
- Price Target Increase: Susquehanna raised Micron's price target from $600 to $1,750 and Sandisk's from $2,000 to $3,250, reflecting sustained strength in the memory and storage markets, which enhances investor confidence in both companies.
- Strong DRAM Market: Analyst Mehdi Hosseini noted that the strength in DRAM is primarily driven by rising commodity prices, with a greater share of DRAM bits allocated to HBM and server applications, which is expected to boost future revenue growth and market share.
- Growing NAND Demand: Incremental demand from AI inferencing is driving stronger bit demand for NAND, with expectations of further ASP increases into the second half of 2026, indicating the companies' competitive edge in emerging technology sectors.
- Supply Chain Constraints: While enterprise SSD demand is expected to accelerate from Q2 to Q3, tight memory supply may lead OEMs to face lower shipment volumes in the second half, potentially pushing server and storage system shipments into the first half of 2027, impacting overall market dynamics.
See More
