Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) just lit up Wall Street's radar. Baird hiked its price target from $130 to $163, signaling growing conviction that Micron's high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips are about to play a much bigger role in the AI boom. That sentiment is spreading fast. Rosenblatt now sees the stock hitting $200, and Wedbush, UBS, and others are sticking with bullish calls. Why? Simple: Micron isn't just riding the AI waveit's building the surfboard. HBM sales topped $1 billion last quarter, beating internal forecasts and jumping 50% sequentially. More importantly, demand is sold out for the year, and the TAM forecast for 2025 just surged from $20B to $35B.

• Warning! GuruFocus has detected 3 Warning Sign with MU.

This is a structural story, not a short-term pop. Analysts are comparing the HBM ramp to the early days of NAND flash, and for good reason. Gross margins on HBM and LPDDR are tracking toward 60%, and Micron's shift toward AI-centric memory is already squeezing supply from traditional PC and smartphone segments. That's helping to balance DRAM pricing dynamics just as AI infrastructure spending hits another gear. CEO Sanjay Mehrotra pointed to strengthening demand across both data center and consumer marketsand that HBM growth tailwind could keep blowing through 2026.

Yes, shares slipped after earnings, but don't mistake that for weakness. With a strong balance sheet, a current ratio of 2.72, and multiple analysts raising targets despite the market noise, Micron is increasingly being viewed as a core AI infrastructure play. As demand for Nvidia's AI chips accelerates, Micron's memory is what makes them work. If the HBM ramp continues as expected, Micron's role in this cycle could be far more critical than the stock currently reflects.