Micron Technology recently reached a record high as Apple announced plans to raise product prices due to unsustainable increases in memory and storage chip costs. The surge in demand for memory chips, driven largely by artificial intelligence, has led to significant stock price increases for Micron, which is up nearly 300% in 2026, bringing its market cap close to $1.3 trillion. Apple's CEO Tim Cook emphasized the unavoidable nature of these price hikes and the challenges of mitigating the substantial increases being faced.

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Apple’s Unsustainable Memory Costs and the Rethinking of Micron’s Valuation

By George Glover

and Anita Hamilton

Updated June 18, 2026, 5:49 pm EDT / Original June 18, 2026, 6:00 am EDT

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AAPL

Micron stock just notched its 35th record close of the year. (Courtesy of Micron)

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Micron Technology closed at a new high Thursday after Apple CEO Tim Cook announced price hikes due to memory chip costs.
Apple plans to raise product prices, citing ‘unavoidable’ and ‘unsustainable’ increases in memory and storage chip costs.
Demand for memory in data centers, fueled by artificial intelligence, is driving up chip costs and revaluing Micron shares.

Micron Technology

MU\ \ +8.70% stock surged Thursday after Apple AAPL\ \ +0.70% CEO Tim Cook said the iPhone maker would hike prices, giving investors yet another reminder of booming demand for memory chips.

Shares of Micron closed up 8.7% to $1,133.99 for another record close, its 35th so far this year. The stock has risen nearly 300% in 2026, bringing its market cap to nearly $1.3 trillion, according to FactSet.

The artificial-intelligence craze has driven up demand for memory in data centers, which has led to investors rethinking the low forward price-to-earnings ratio that Micron shares normally fetch.

Cook said in an interview published on Wednesday that Apple planned to raise its prices in a bid to cancel out the impact of surging memory and storage chip costs.

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“Unfortunately, price increases are unavoidable,” he said in an interview with The Wall Street JournalExternal link.

“We’re doing our best to mitigate the huge increases that are being passed to us, and we’ve been trying to shield our customers from the increases, but the situation has become unsustainable.”

Micron stock was up 267% for the year through Wednesday’s close. Barron’s argued earlier this month that the stock remains undervalued, because the company’s hardware is crucial for AI servers.

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Write to George Glover at george.glover@dowjones.comExternal link and Anita Hamilton at anita.hamilton@barrons.comExternal link

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Micron Stock: Apple’s Unsustainable Memory Costs Force Valuation Rethink

Apple’s Unsustainable Memory Costs and the Rethinking of Micron’s Valuation