Micron, AMD, Intel Jump Premarket on AI Chip Rebound

Micron rose about 3.5% to $982.05 in premarket trading, while AMD and Intel each gained more than 2.5% as buying returned to AI-focused chip names after two days of heavy profit-taking.

The selloff followed preliminary second-quarter results from a major memory producer showing operating profit of 89.4 trillion won and roughly 171 trillion won in sales, driven by AI-related memory demand. Instead of sparking a sustained rally, markets treated the report as a sell-the-news event and selling intensified across South Korea, Japan and the United States.

South Korea’s Kospi fell into technical bear-market territory, down about 22.8% from its June 22 peak. Over the prior week the Kospi ended 7.9% lower. Major memory suppliers also registered steep declines: SK Hynix fell 14.6%, Samsung Electronics dropped 9.1% and Japan’s Kioxia slid more than 13.5% as the memory trade unwound.

By Thursday, buying had returned to memory stocks. Kioxia rose 8.3% in Japan, while Samsung and SK Hynix gained as investors rotated back into the sector ahead of SK Hynix’s planned U.S. share offering. The roughly $28 billion sale of U.S. shares was reported to be more than seven times oversubscribed, and SK Hynix’s Nasdaq ADRs are scheduled to begin trading on July 10, a near-term test of demand for AI memory exposure.

Analysts who maintained bullish views kept high targets and updated forecasts. Bank of America’s Vivek Arya kept a Buy rating on Micron with a $1,550 price target and projected global cloud and AI infrastructure spending could reach $1.5 trillion by 2027, with 35% to 40% of that spending going to memory. UBS raised its DRAM contract-price forecast, now expecting DDR prices to rise about 32% quarter-on-quarter in the third quarter, up from an earlier 17% estimate. Goldman Sachs increased its AMD target to $640 from $450, citing AI demand and a larger role for high-performance CPUs in advanced workloads. HSBC doubled its Intel target to $200 from $100 and highlighted potential server CPU growth and gains from Intel’s foundry business, with design commitments in Intel Foundry expected to begin in the second half of 2026.

Analysts and market commentators also noted risks. The higher price targets for Intel and others sit above broader market expectations and hinge on companies converting early engagements into concrete design wins. Bank of America earlier flagged a bubble risk for technology and semiconductor stocks. Some investors remain cautious because of stretched valuations, higher oil prices and uncertainty around interest rates.