[News] Micron Profit Surges 15-Fold as Margin Nears 85%; HBM4 Revenue Exceeds $1B

Fueled by the AI boom, Micron delivered another blockbuster quarter in 3QFY2026, with revenue surging 74% sequentially and profit more than doubling from the previous quarter, according to its press release. Gross margin climbed to a record 84.9%, well above the company’s 81% forecast and up sharply from 74.9% in the previous quarter, as noted by CNBC.

The strong performance also comfortably surpassed Wall Street expectations. According to CNBC, Micron posted fiscal third-quarter revenue of $41.46 billion, well above the consensus estimate of $35.85 billion. Net income soared to $28.24 billion, or $24.46 per share, from $1.89 billion, or $1.68 per share, a year earlier, marking nearly a 15-fold increase in quarterly profit, according to the Financial Times.

Further highlighting the strength of the quarter, adjusted earnings reached $25.11 per share, significantly ahead of analysts’ expectations of $20.78 per share, CNBC adds.

Micron also issued an upbeat outlook for the current quarter. The company guided for fourth-quarter revenue of around $50 billion, plus or minus $1 billion, handily above the $43.58 billion consensus estimate compiled by LSEG, Reuters reports.

Micron’s bullish outlook aligns with TrendForce’s latest assessment. As the shift in AI development from large-scale model training toward inference-centric Agentic AI applications is driving a structural expansion in memory demand, TrendForce has therefore significantly raised its global memory market forecasts, increasing its 2026 estimate from US$551.6 billion in the previous report to $889.3 billion.

The momentum is expected to continue into 2027. TrendForce has revised its 2027 forecast upward from US$842.7 billion to more than US$1.28 trillion, implying annual growth of roughly 44% and underscoring the scale of the industry’s next expansion cycle.

Notably, as Samsung has taken an early lead by becoming the first to top $1 billion in HBM4 sales, as per Korea JoongAng Daily, Micron also highlights accelerating demand and confirming its HBM4 revenue has also exceeded $1 billion, according to an Investing.com transcript. The company’s HBM4 12-high ramps nearly twice as fast as HBM3E 12-high, according to management.

Long-Term Tightness Drives Capacity Buildout

Despite aggressive capacity additions across the industry, supply constraints are expected to remain a defining theme for years to come. Reuters, citing CEO Sanjay Mehrotra, reports that tight market conditions are likely to persist beyond 2027. While industry output may gradually improve in 2028, there is still no clear indication of when memory supply will fully catch up with demand, Mehrotra added.

Against this backdrop, Micron is increasingly relying on long-term agreements to secure demand visibility and support future expansion plans. According to CNBC, the U.S. memory maker expects approximately $22 billion in financial commitments tied to 16 long-term customer agreement.

Mehrotra, cited by the report, said strategic customer agreements are expected to account for roughly half — or even more — of Micron’s total revenue once fully in place.

With customer commitments continuing to grow, Micron is also stepping up investment in new production capacity. Reuters reports that fourth-quarter capital expenditures are projected to reach around $10 billion, exceeding analysts’ expectations of $8.89 billion and underscoring the company’s commitment to meeting sustained AI-driven memory demand.

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(Photo credit: Micron)