Micron's cheap P/E and the crypto hardware connection

Micron Technology printed a staggering set of fiscal third-quarter results on June 24. Revenue hit $41.46 billion, up from $9.3 billion a year earlier. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $25.11. Management guided fourth-quarter revenue to roughly $50 billion. The stock jumped more than 15% after the report, pushing the company past a $1 trillion market cap.

The valuation tells a different story. Micron trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 8 to 11 times. The broader semiconductor index sits near 73 times. Competitors with slower growth routinely change hands above 70 times earnings.

That discount points to a structural worry. Memory prices are notoriously cyclical. A single down cycle can erase years of gains. Micron’s management is acting as if the current demand wave is different. The balance sheet shows $30.2 billion in cash and investments against $5.7 billion in debt. The company announced a $9.3 billion high-bandwidth memory facility in Japan, with groundbreaking expected in early July 2026.

High-bandwidth memory is the link between Micron’s results and the crypto market. The same memory architecture that accelerates AI training clusters is also the backbone of GPU mining rigs. Bitcoin has shown resilience even as AI chip stocks pulled back in recent months, suggesting crypto is developing its own demand drivers. The hardware supply chain remains shared. Any shift in HBM allocation between AI data centers and mining operations flows through Micron’s order book.

The bull case rests on revenue growth of roughly 4x year-over-year and gross margins near 86%. A forward P/E below 11 times implies the market expects margins to revert toward historical averages. If fourth-quarter revenue hits $50 billion and then plateaus, the denominator in that ratio shrinks. The stock’s apparent cheapness disappears.

Micron’s share price has climbed about 750% over the past year. The company pays a $0.15 quarterly dividend.

AlphaScala rates MU at 74 out of 100, a Moderate score, within the Technology sector. The full profile is available on the MU stock page.

The next concrete number is the fourth-quarter print due in late September. If revenue comes in below $50 billion, the market will start pricing in the next downturn earlier than the company expects. If it hits or exceeds that mark, the cheapness argument gains force.