Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq futures rise as Micron eases AI fears, PCE hits 3-year high

Micron Technology reported fiscal-year revenue of $37.4B, up nearly 49% year-over-year, with gross margins of 39.8% and diluted EPS of $7.59 — numbers strong enough to calm investor fears that AI-related memory demand was cooling. The print helped lift Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq futures, suggesting markets read Micron's results as a broader AI infrastructure demand signal rather than a company-specific beat.

Micron is the clearest publicly traded proxy for HBM (high-bandwidth memory) demand from AI accelerator buildouts at hyperscalers. A near-49% revenue surge with improving margins suggests the AI memory upgrade cycle remains intact, and the results carry read-through implications for the broader semiconductor supply chain.

The complicating backdrop is a PCE inflation print at a 3-year high, which raises the probability that the Fed stays higher for longer. Elevated rates compress multiples across high-growth names, and Micron — despite the earnings beat — still trades in a cyclical industry historically prone to sharp inventory corrections.

The bull case centers on HBM supply tightness and continued hyperscaler capex; if AI capex holds, Micron's pricing power and margins could expand further. The bear case is that the PCE print tightens financial conditions just as semiconductor capex cycles peak, and any demand softening from hyperscalers would hit memory pricing fast. Watch next quarter's guidance and HBM allocation commentary as the key forward signal.