Micron sinks, continuing a whipsaw week of trading

Micron Technology’s shares tumbled on Friday, giving back some of the gains from a post-earnings rally, as the memory chipmaker looked to wrap a rocky week of trading that has seen big swings.

The stock sank 4% as other tech firms also struggled. Intel fell 3%, Arm shed 4%, and Marvell declined 4%.

Investors remain wary of the rising costs of artificial intelligence infrastructure, with the sell-off reverberating across global markets following a New York Times report that OpenAI is considering pushing back IPO timing to next year.

In Europe, key chip stocks also saw losses.

ASML was down 2.2%, Infineon fell 3.7%, ASM International dropped 2.8%, ST Microelectronics lost 3.3%, and Be Semiconductor fell 2%. Japanese conglomerate Softbank led losses in Asia and plunged more than 12%.

Micron’s third-quarter revenue more than quadrupled to $41.46 billion, up from $9.3 billion a year prior, it reported on Wednesday, beating analysts’ expectations. It’s projecting revenue of around $50 billion for the current quarter, compared with $11.3 billion a year earlier. The company’s stock soared more than 15% on the day and is up 863% over the past year.

As major hyperscalers build out AI infrastructure, including data centers, they’re requiring huge amounts of memory chips that they’re purchasing from Micron.

That surge in demand is reducing the supply of memory for other devices like smartphones, PCs, and more, which has pushed prices higher and lifted Micron’s earnings.