MW Micron is now worth more than JPMorgan as the stock sees its best week in two decades

By Christine Ji

Micron has added $200 billion in market capitalization over the past week - a feat that once took it 41-plus years

Shares of Micron have rallied over 150% since the beginning of the year.

Micron Technology is set to be a $800 billion-plus company - just a week after it first became a $600 billion-plus company.

The stock $(MU)$ is putting up a momentous weekly performance, up 30% across the last five sessions, in what would be Micron's largest weekly gain since December 2008 if it holds through Friday'sw close, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

Shares of Micron were up 11% in Friday's session alone as they tracked toward a new all-time high - with the artificial-intelligence boom continuing to turbocharge the memory and storage provider.

The stock has been ascending rapidly. The company has tacked on about $200 billion of market capitalization within a week to bring its intraday level to $825 billion - ahead of JPMorgan Chase's $(JPM)$ $810 billion. For context, it took over 41 years for Micron to rack up its first $200 billion in market value, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

Now, Micron ranks as the 12th largest U.S. company - behind pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly $(LLY)$, which is worth $900 billion.

See more: Micron just did in three days what once took 37 years

Up 150% so far this year, Micron's stock is the second-best performer in the PHLX Semiconductor Index SOX, after Intel $(INTC)$. Micron, along with Samsung (KR:005930) and SK Hynix (KR:000660), is among the only producers of the high-bandwidth memory chips needed for AI data centers. That's given Micron incredible pricing power, and the company is completely sold out of 2026 capacity.

Enthusiasm for Micron, alongside companies like Intel and Sandisk $(SNDK)$, reflects "the realities of a persistent global shortage in chips," Mike Treacy, head market analyst and vice president of risk at Apex, told MarketWatch over email earlier this week.

The shortage is pushing AI capital expenditures even higher. On recent earnings calls, companies ranging from Meta Platforms (META) to CoreWeave (CRWV) have cited rising component costs as a reason for increased spending.

Micron's standout performance has ignited a debate on Wall Street about the nature of semiconductor businesses.

Memory is a very cyclical area of the market, Carolyn Bell, lead portfolio manager at Stonehage Fleming, told MarketWatch. "The pricing there is incredibly strong because there's a shortage. ... It's just this phase we're at in the cycle where the data centers are physically getting built." Bell believes the recent momentum won't be sustainable in the long term.

However, others believe Micron is at the center of an AI-driven transformation that will see traditionally cyclical semiconductor names turn into high-growth business models.

More: Micron and Sandisk shares could soar further thanks to a software-like subscription model

-Christine Ji

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May 08, 2026 12:55 ET (16:55 GMT)

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