Micron Technology, American Airlines and Applied Materials surged to fresh annual highs amid earnings optimism, easing cost pressures, and new product announcements.
- MU stock soared nearly 16% on continued optimism following its strong third-quarter results.
- AAL stock closed up 0.77% amid declining oil prices following easing of geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, as well as a series of price target hikes from Wall Street analysts.
- AMAT surged more than 13% at close after announcing new chipmaking systems and riding the momentum from Micron’s rally.
Micron Technology (MU), American Airlines Group Inc. (AAL), and Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) surged to fresh highs on Thursday as investors piled into the stocks amid a range of positive catalysts.
MU stock soared nearly 16% on continued optimism following its strong third-quarter results. AAL stock closed up 0.77% amid declining oil prices following the easing of geopolitical tensions, and AMAT surged more than 13% at close after announcing new chipmaking systems.
Micron Surges On AI-Driven Demand Optimism
MU stock surged to an all-time high of $1,255 in the intraday trading session on Thursday after the company’s blowout third-quarter print boosted optimism for sustained AI-driven demand for its memory chips.
On Wednesday, the company said its quarterly revenue surged 346% to $41.46 billion, surpassing analysts’ expectations. Earnings came in at $25.11 per share, also beating Wall Street expectations of $20.28 per share.
“Our demand for HBM [high bandwidth memory], not just in ’27, but even ’28 is well above our ability to supply across all the different HBM flavors. And it’s also true — the same thing is also true, by the way, for non-HBM DRAM as well,” Micron Chief Business Officer Sumit Sadana said on the investor call following results.
Following the results, multiple Wall Street analysts raised their price targets on Micron. Melius Research’s Ben Reitzes has the highest price target on the company at $2,200, indicating an upside potential of more than 81% from its last close. According to Koyfin data, 43 analysts have a 12-month average price target of $1,365.08 for the company, indicating about 12.5% upside potential. MU shares have already gained 284.74% so far in 2026.
Meanwhile, on Stocktwits, retail sentiment toward the company has remained in the “extremely bullish” range over the past 24 hours amid “extremely high” message volume.
American Airlines Gains On Easing Cost Pressures
Shares of AAL surged to a 52-week high of $18.04 on Thursday as declining crude prices eased cost pressures for the carrier.
Benchmark oil prices dropped on Wednesday to their lowest level since before the Iran war, as a peace agreement between Iran and the U.S. eased supply fears, as stranded tankers reportedly began to transit through the Strait of Hormuz.
The company also received a series of price target updates from Wall Street analysts. Barclays raised the price target on American Airlines to $19 from $16 after adjusting targets in the airline space as part of a second-quarter earnings preview. The analyst said that airlines will likely guide Q3 unit revenue higher, supporting a stronger margin outlook in 2027, especially if energy prices continue to trend lower. Middle East peace has “revived interest” in U.S. airline stocks as “robust” travel demand faces flat industry capacity growth, the firm said, according to TheFly. Jefferies, UBS, and Bank of America also hiked price targets on AAL.
Despite the pressures on the airline industry, AAL stock has climbed 13.5% so far this year. Meanwhile, on Stocktwits, retail sentiment around the company has stayed in the “bearish” territory over the past 24 hours.
Applied Materials Soars On AI Optimism After Announcing New Chipmaking Systems
Applied Materials shares rose to a fresh annual high of $669.22 on Thursday after the company introduced a suite of new chipmaking systems to build advanced 3D chip architectures, boosting optimism about its AI compute products.
The company unveiled new DRAM, advanced packaging, metrology, and deposition technologies designed to improve AI chip performance, enhance high-bandwidth memory (HBM) manufacturing, boost production efficiency, and increase chip yields.
AMAT also got a boost from Micron’s upbeat earnings. The companies have a long-standing partnership to advance AI and high-performance computing technologies.
The company also received a price target hike from Jefferies, which raised the target on its shares to $770 from $510 and kept a ‘Buy’ rating after the company hosted its advanced packaging event. DRAM and advanced packaging are expected to outpace overall wafer fab equipment growth, led by AI, as the semiconductor industry approaches $1 trillion in revenue in 2026, the analyst said, per TheFly. Jefferies said that it sees Applied Materials as an outperformer with “strong exposure” to leading-edge foundry and DRAM. Meanwhile, Bank of America also recently raised its price target on AMAT to $720 from $540 and kept a ‘Buy’ rating on the shares.
On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around AMAT stock was in the ‘bullish’ territory at the time of writing. The company’s shares are up about 148% so far this year.
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