Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU) rose 1% in overnight trading late Sunday, building on a strong weekly performance as traders positioned for a return to the $1,000 level.
The stock gained 10.7% over the past week to close at $971.66, marking its strongest weekly advance in more than two months and extending its winning streak to a second consecutive week.
Micron had previously pulled back from its record high in June, slipping below $1,000 on July 2, before stabilizing and finding renewed momentum through August.
Retail traders on Stocktwits speculated that strength in South Korean equities would provide additional tailwinds for MU heading into Monday’s session.
KOSPI, the South Korean benchmark heavily weighted toward chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, rose 2.4% in Seoul on Monday and has recently shown a notable influence on U.S. memory stock trading.
A major focus for traders beyond technicals was Apple’s ongoing discussions with the U.S. government over its memory chip procurement strategy.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said over the weekend that the U.S. government does not want Apple to source memory chips from Chinese manufacturers, following reports that Apple had sought approval to buy chips from China’s ChangXin Memory Technologies and was already testing them.
Insatiable AI data-center demand has fueled a memory-chip shortage and soaring prices, pushing Apple and other consumer-electronics makers to raise prices, while Apple has turned to Chinese suppliers in an attempt to ease the supply crunch.
The U.S. Senate has set August 21 as the deadline for Apple to respond to bipartisan senators’ demands concerning Chinese memory suppliers, with legislators seeking disclosure on whether Apple will exclude Pentagon-designated Chinese memory companies from its products.
One trader on Stocktwits captured the bullish sentiment bluntly, writing: “$MU The most important news I would like to hear from Apple on 8-21 is that Apple chose MU for its sole chip supplier. If that news comes out, MU will surpass $1100.”
Another trader pointed to KOSPI as an immediate signal, posting “$MU KOSPI is up, this is hitting 1K,” reflecting the tight correlation traders are drawing between Asian chip equity moves and Micron’s near-term direction.
Not all sentiment leaned bullish, however, with one skeptical trader warning: “$MU will test $1000 pre market but they will dump at open like always don’t be surprised.”
Despite the mixed commentary, retail sentiment on Stocktwits for MU dipped over the past week, registering as “bearish” as of late Sunday, underscoring the tension between improving fundamentals and cautious short-term positioning.
