Micron Technology (MU) Gains Driven by Earnings Upgrades

Micron Technology (MU) Gains Driven by Earnings Upgrades

Mon, August 31, 2026 at 5:56 PM GMT+3 4 min read

• MU +0.70%
• ^GSPC -0.51%

MD Sass, a boutique asset management firm, published its second-quarter investor update for its flagship, the "MD Sass Concentrated Value Strategy." The letter can be downloaded here. In the first half of 2026, AI infrastructure stocks led the market, with the Russell 1000 Value increasing by 16.3%, outpacing the S&P 500 (10.2%) and Russell 1000 Growth (5.3%). This growth was fueled by semiconductor, memory, and hardware companies benefiting from AI development, even though they are considered cyclical. These sectors, representing only 7.7% of the Russell 1000 Value at the start of the year, contributed nearly 70% of its returns. The portfolio gained 10.0% in the second quarter, net of fees, compared to 13.9% for the Russell 1000 Value Index. Year-to-date, the strategy returned 6.6%, net of fees, versus 16.3% for the Index. The portfolio faced challenges due to limited exposure to companies with the greatest upside from AI infrastructure investments. It also lacked exposure to the Energy sector, which returned about 20% in the first half amid geopolitical tensions with Iran that increased commodity prices, affecting performance. The firm recognizes the importance of adapting its strategies while maintaining core investment principles as it explores future opportunities in emerging technological themes. Also, check the fund's top five holdings to see its best picks in 2026.

In its second-quarter 2026 investor letter, MD Sass Concentrated Value Strategy highlighted Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU). Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU), a leading semiconductor company manufacturing memory and storage products, contributed to the fund's performance this quarter. On August 28, 2026, Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) closed at $932.86 per share. The one-month return of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) was 14.00%, and its shares gained 694.60% over the past 52 weeks. Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) has a market capitalization of $1.05 trillion.

MD Sass Concentrated Value Strategy stated the following regarding Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) in its Q2 2026 investor letter:

"We owned Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) for only a portion of the second quarter, but its impact was significant, as the stock appreciated approximately 50% during our holding period. Although MU had already experienced a massive run before we initiated our investment, most of the share price appreciation was driven by positive earnings revisions rather than multiple expansion. In fact, with the stock trading at approximately 6x our earnings estimate for the next 12 months, the market clearly signaled that MU was overearning and that a significant decline in earnings was imminent. We believed this assumption, although consistent with previous memory boom and bust cycles, was erroneous. We believed this cycle would remain stronger for much longer for three primary reasons. First, high bandwidth memory ("HBM") is growing rapidly, is less commodity oriented, and requires significantly more wafer capacity than traditional DRAM. Second, MU has established firm, multiyear supply agreements that provide unusually strong visibility and downside protection. Third, industry supply growth appears insufficient to accommodate the rapid increase in memory demand created by inference and agentic AI applications, which require substantial memory capacity and bandwidth. We sold our position during the first week of Q3 after both Micron and Sandisk (SNDK) shifted from the Russell 1000 Value Index to the Russell 1000 Growth Index as part of the late June reconstitution. We want the vast majority of CV's investments to be in companies represented in our benchmark and therefore decided to sell MU while retaining a small position in SNDK, which we purchased late in the quarter."

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) is in 16th position on our list of 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026. As per our database, 184 hedge fund portfolios held Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) at the end of the second quarter, which was 154 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.

In another article, we discussed Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) and highlighted Aristotle Capital Management's insights on the company. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 2026 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.