Apple CEO Tim Cook rattled memory chip investors after making comments about seeking additional suppliers during the company’s latest earnings call.
Cook told analysts directly: “For September [the third quarter], we expect to pay even higher memory costs,” signaling ongoing pricing pressure for Apple’s device lineup.
Cook stopped short of announcing any concrete plans to source memory chips from Chinese manufacturers for devices sold inside or outside the United States.
Apple has separately been lobbying the Trump administration to permit the use of Chinese-made memory chips in devices intended for sale outside the U.S., according to The Wall Street Journal.
The prospect of Chinese memory chips flooding the market has been a persistent overhang on Micron’s stock, though analysts suggest that scenario remains a distant concern for now.
Micron (MU) shares were also susceptible to profit-taking after the stock surged roughly 18% in the prior session, reflecting continued volatility around the memory sector’s trajectory.
Amazon added further color to the memory market’s strength on Thursday, raising its 2026 capital expenditure guidance to $220 billion from $200 billion, explicitly citing higher memory chip costs as a driver.
Cantor Fitzgerald analyst C.J. Muse offered a bullish take, saying “the memory trade is alive and well,” and forecasting that DRAM and NAND would remain undersupplied through 2028.
Raymond James analyst Melissa Fairbanks described Micron as “one of the best beneficiaries of the current memory cycle,” reinforcing confidence in the company’s longer-term positioning.
Despite the stock’s short-term pullback, the broader analyst community appears aligned on the view that structural demand for memory chips remains firmly intact heading deeper into 2026.
Cook’s tentative language around additional suppliers was enough to introduce uncertainty, even as the underlying data from Amazon and analyst commentary pointed to a healthy memory demand environment.
The episode highlights how sensitive Micron’s shares remain to any commentary from major customers like Apple, particularly during a period of rapid price appreciation and supply chain realignment.
