Intel and Micron are riding a powerful AI-driven memory chip wave, with both companies drawing fresh investor attention after major strategic signals and bullish analyst calls.
Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan hinted at a potential return to the memory chip market during an appearance on the TechSurge: Deep Tech VC Podcast on August 13. He called new memory architecture “one of my pet projects” and added: “I used to not invest in memory because it was kind of a commodity business. But now it has become different.”
The comments follow Intel’s $20 billion common stock offering, completed on August 10. The deal was upsized from an initial $15 billion target and priced at $95 per share across 210.5 million shares. Tan personally invested $12 million of his own and his family’s money at the offering price. Proceeds are earmarked for capital expenditures and advanced packaging, areas that fit squarely with a potential memory expansion.
Intel has also been building memory expertise. In June, the company appointed Seok-Hee Lee, former CEO of SK Hynix, as executive vice president of Intel Foundry. Tan referenced the hire directly: “So you kind of know something that I’m thinking about.” Intel has filed a patent for cross-batch memory, or XBM, an ultra-high-bandwidth architecture designed to match HBM4 performance without costly silicon interposers. The patent was filed December 26, 2024 and published July 2, 2026. Intel is also co-developing Z-Angle Memory, or ZAM, with SAIMEMORY, a SoftBank subsidiary. ZAM is a nine-layer stacked DRAM positioned as a lower-power alternative to HBM.
Meanwhile, Micron Technology shares climbed after New Street Research upgraded the memory-chip maker to Buy from Neutral, setting a price target of $1,250. The firm argued that artificial intelligence could transform Micron into a $2 trillion to $3 trillion business by the end of the decade. Micron stock was up 1.3% in trading, giving the company a market capitalization of around $1 trillion.
New Street said AI will become the dominant driver of memory demand, accounting for roughly two-thirds of total memory demand. The firm expects annual memory demand growth to reach 15% beyond 2030, compared with a historical average of about 10% over the past two decades. It also argued that high-bandwidth memory “deserves a premium to commodity DRAM” because demand is increasingly supported by long-term AI infrastructure spending rather than traditional cyclical factors.
The broader memory sector has strengthened. Sandisk’s optimistic long-term outlook and gains in SK Hynix shares have supported sentiment. KeyBanc forecasts DRAM prices will increase by 15% to 20% in the third quarter from the previous quarter, followed by another 15% increase in the fourth quarter. For NAND flash memory, KeyBanc sees prices rising by 30% to 40% in the third quarter and another 15% in the final quarter of the year.
Intel’s Q2 2026 results added to the positive picture. Revenue came in at $16.13 billion, up 25% year-over-year. The data center and AI segment grew 59%. EPS hit $0.42, doubling analyst estimates of $0.21. Institutional investors now own 64.53% of INTC, with Vanguard, State Street, Capital World Investors, Geode Capital and Morgan Stanley all increasing their positions. The consensus analyst price target for Intel sits at $107.85, with 32 of 50 analysts rating the stock a “Hold.”
Micron estimates the global HBM market will grow from around $35 billion in 2025 to roughly $100 billion by 2028, a compound annual growth rate of about 40%. UBS analyst Timothy Arcuri recently reiterated a $1,625 price target for Micron, valuing the company at 11 times projected 2029 earnings. No commercialization timeline has been set for either Intel’s XBM or ZAM memory architectures.
