Shares of Micron Technology closed 1% higher on Monday, erasing earlier losses of up to 9.5%, as news of a class-action lawsuit targeting the world’s top memory chip makers shook investor sentiment. The recovery followed positive analyst commentary, offsetting concerns from a major legal challenge related to alleged price-fixing in the semiconductor industry. Meanwhile, buying pressure was seen from investors after the price fell to nearly $1,000 level.
A group of seventeen individual and commercial plaintiffs filed the class-action complaint in the Northern District of California, targeting Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron Technology. The suit contends that these industry leaders engaged in secret cooperation to keep standard memory components artificially scarce, thereby driving up acquisition costs for a wide range of consumers and businesses.
The financial repercussions of this alleged collusion have been severe, characterized by a nearly 700% increase in the price of conventional memory modules over the previous four-year period. According to market data cited in the litigation, this inflationary trend has had a cascading effect on the broader electronics sector.
Micron’s shares regained ground after Cantor Fitzgerald raised its target price from $1,500 to $2,000, naming the company a top pick. The upgrade was based on outlooks of achieving $200 earnings per share by calendar year 2027 and $250 in 2028, supported by long-term supply contracts and potential share repurchases in the next two years. Cantor Fitzgerald reasoned that previous valuation multiples had undervalued Micron’s future earnings trajectory.
The company has also climbed to become one of the top ten holdings in the S&P 500, constituting a 1.9% weighting. This shift has occurred as weighting for Nvidia and Apple has come down from their earlier highs.
In international trading, depositary receipts of Micron listed on the Thai Stock Exchange trade near the flat line, while after-hours trading of the stock in the U.S. saw a modest decrease of 0.5%. MICRON01, MICRON23, and MICRON80 securities posted slight declines between 0.42% and 1.31%.
