Micron Technology shares surged more than 15% to close at $746.81 on Friday, driven by a global shortage of memory chips. The stock gained nearly 38% on the week and has surged almost 84% in the past month.
The company's market cap is currently above $840 billion, according to LSEG. Micron notched its best week since December 2008, when it was trading below $5 a share in the wake of the Great Recession.
Demand for memory chips is emerging as the hallmark of the current phase of the AI buildout, driven by total capex from hyperscalers that could surpass $1 trillion by the end of next year, according to Bank of America and Evercore.
Memory makers such as Micron, Samsung, and SK Hynix together produce more than 90% of the world's DRAM, according to multiple equity research reports. The shortage has led to widening prices and margins for memory makers, while hyperscalers have bemoaned cost increases for end-user goods and services.
Both DRAM and NAND are in high demand, with DRAM being faster and more finnicky, while flash-based NAND is a bit slower and more reliable. Micron remains well positioned across the memory landscape, with leading edge DRAM nodes helping drive cost-downs year-over-year, while NAND sees increasing layer counts drive better costs and increase wafer capacity.
Net buying picked up to its highest level in two years in mid-April, according to Vanda Research. This comes even as overall stock-buying by retail investors has been slightly softer compared to the past few years, said Viraj Patel, strategist with Vanda in comments to CNBC on Friday.