🚀 Micron surges 16%

In partnership with

Market Overview
Read time 1.4 minutes

Year To Date Performances:

1. Micron Technology's stock surged over 16% in premarket trading following blockbuster fiscal third-quarter earnings, driven by the massive artificial intelligence infrastructure buildout that has caused a global supply imbalance and pushed memory prices higher. The memory maker's revenue more than quadrupled year-over-year to $41.46 billion, comfortably beating analyst expectations of $36 billion and prompting a forward revenue guidance of approximately $50 billion for the current quarter. This stellar performance pushed Micron's market capitalization to $1.2 trillion—reflecting a staggering 723% stock increase over the past year—and successfully reversed a sharp, sector-wide semiconductor selloff by lifting premarket shares of industry peers like Qualcomm, Intel, AMD, and Nvidia. To mitigate future margin volatility, Micron has solidified its long-term financial stability by signing 16 three-to-five-year supply contracts with major data center and automotive clients, securing $22 billion in baseline commitments that analysts estimate will guarantee minimum pricing for roughly 40% of the company's future revenue through the current upcycle.

2. Chevron Chief Financial Officer Eimear Bonner has dismissed U.S. President Donald Trump's accusations of consumer price gouging, stating on CNBC that retail gasoline prices will naturally fall but require time to reflect the recent collapse in crude markets. The political friction escalated after President Trump directed the Department of Justice to launch an immediate investigation into major energy firms—explicitly naming Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Shell, and BP—arguing that pump prices should be at $2.25 per gallon given that crude oil has tumbled toward $69.60 per barrel following an interim U.S.-Iran peace deal and the subsequent reopening of the strategic Strait of Hormuz. While AAA data shows the national average has dipped 14% from its May peak to $3.93 per gallon, Trump maintains the drop is disproportionately slow, a critical political vulnerability for Republicans aiming to defend slim congressional majorities in the upcoming November midterm elections. Defending the sector, Bonner emphasized that Chevron is aggressively expanding its annual domestic production by 7% to 10% to meet demand, while industry economists reiterate that retail pricing lags wholesale crude because high-cost existing fuel inventories must first work their way through regional refineries and supply terminals before relief fully registers at the pump.

3. Darden Restaurants reported mixed fiscal fourth-quarter results, beating adjusted earnings expectations but falling short on revenue as same-store sales growth at Olive Garden and its fine-dining segments weakened. Shares of the restaurant operator slid over 1% in premarket trading after net sales climbed 13.7% to $3.72 billion, missing the $3.73 billion projected by Wall Street despite the financial benefit of an extra week in the fiscal calendar. The company reported a net income of $404.9 million, or $3.51 per share, which rose from $303.8 million, or $2.58 per share, in the prior year. When excluding the costs associated with restaurant closures and other one-time items, Darden's adjusted earnings per share reached $3.66, edging past the LSEG analyst survey consensus of $3.63.

   Headlines

   1. Data shows that foreign investment into the US remains strong despite trade rhetoric.

   2. Trump has pledged support for Venezuela following two earthquakes that killed dozens of people.