“Micron Is Making The Smart Move”: Elon Musk Explains Why He’s A Micron Fan, As Stock Sits 25% Below Recent High
Elon Musk singled out Micron by name on X, calling its pricing conduct reasonable while accusing unnamed rivals of being extortionate. His praise landed just as the stock slid further from a peak that already has investors watching closely.
On the evening of Oct. 13, Elon Musk publicly praised Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU | MU Price Prediction) for how it handles memory pricing. His comment came while Micron shares sit 25% below their 52-week high. Barron’s picked up the post on Wednesday as the stock kept falling. The post arrives as the stock trades well below its recent peak.
What Musk Actually Posted
The remark was a short reply to another user on X. Musk did not attach an investment thesis, a prepared statement or a business announcement to it. Here is Musk’s post in full: “Micron has been reasonable regarding future memory prices, while others have been extortionate, which is something today’s customers won’t forget … Micron is making is the smart move for long-term customer loyalty.”
In the post, Elon Musk called Micron reasonable and described certain others as extortionate on future memory prices. He did not say who he meant, and we have not identified those companies. Musk writes as a buyer would, since the post is about what customers will remember.
The post reached a large audience. It drew 16,905 likes, 1,249 retweets and 491 replies as of Wednesday morning.
Micron in Brief
Micron makes memory and storage. Its DRAM, NAND and flash products go into data centers, mobile devices, PCs and automotive systems. It also makes high-bandwidth memory, a stacked form of DRAM used alongside AI accelerators. Micron posts its business units, results and filings on its investor relations site.
The AI expansion needs more than GPUs, and the suppliers of memory, power and cooling tend to get overlooked (we highlighted seven of those non-chipmaker names in a free report you can grab here: 7 Stocks Powering the AI Boom (That Aren’t Chipmakers)).
Shares Sit 25% Below Their 52-Week High After a Historic Run
Micron traded at $941.46 in the Oct. 14 delayed quote, a move of -1.22% in the regular session. That puts the shares 25% below their 52-week high of $1,254.81.
The longer record shows strong gains. Micron is up 230.07% year to date and 388.88% over the past year. Over five years the stock has returned 1,322.22%, and the company’s market capitalization is about $1.065 trillion. This decline is a dip within a strong multiyear run.
Recent moves have been down. The shares returned -9.96% over the past week and -3.47% over the past month. Selling hit the whole group on Oct. 13, when memory and data storage stocks fell broadly. The 50-day moving average is $979.51, and the 200-day moving average is $705.24.
Wall Street Ratings Lean Heavily Positive
Analyst ratings are largely positive: 9 strong buy, 36 buy, 3 hold, 0 sell and 1 strong sell. The average analyst price target is $1,560.57. That number is a consensus of individual analyst targets and reflects a range of views on where the shares could trade.
Valuation Gap Every Holder Should Understand
Micron trades at a trailing price-to-earnings ratio of about 13x and a forward P/E of about 7x. The two numbers are far apart because analysts expect strong earnings growth. The stock’s beta is 2.226, which means the shares have moved more than the broad market.
Today Is Micron’s Ex-Dividend Date
Wednesday, Oct. 14, is Micron’s ex-dividend date. The quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share is scheduled to be paid on Oct. 29, according to the company’s fiscal fourth-quarter press release filed with the SEC. Micron’s dividend per share is $0.565. That payout is small, and the yield is modest. The date matters mainly for the dividend calendar.
What We Could Not Verify
We did not confirm whether the recent peak is an all-time high, so this article refers only to the 52-week high. We also did not confirm any business relationship behind Musk’s praise. A single post from one executive tells us nothing about memory pricing across the industry, no matter how many people read it.
Praise Meets a Pullback
Praise and a dip now coincide. A prominent executive praised Micron’s pricing conduct in front of a large audience. Meanwhile, the shares trade well below their recent peak after a year that grew them several times over. Investors researching the stock can keep an eye on how that gap develops leading up to the company’s next earnings report.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
AJ spent 10 years writing about financial markets at The Motley Fool. His coverage centers on technology stocks and the broader macroeconomic trends, from interest rates to geopolitics, that shape where markets are headed next. AJ is drawn to the stories where big-picture economics and individual companies collide.
