Meet Micron, the under-the-radar chipmaker that just reported a 346% sales surge and helped stop a global AI selloff

Micron may not be a household name, but it may just be among the most important tech companies in the AI era, and definitely one with a surprising backstory. 

On Thursday, the memory chipmaker reported an eye-popping 346% surge in quarterly revenue. As if that weren’t enough, it reported a profit of $28.2 billion for the quarter, almost 15 times as high as the same quarter last year. By all accounts, the company blew past analyst expectations, sending its stock soaring almost 16% in after-hours trading. The rally continued into Thursday evening, with Micron’s shares closing up 15% at $1,213 per share.

Micron’s stellar results have helped stabilize markets after a bruising selloff in AI and tech-related stocks earlier this week by pushing up futures for both the tech-heavy Nasdaq and the broader S&P 500 indexes. It has also given Wall Street hope that the AI trade still has some steam.

“This shows the memory and chip trade is well-intact and still in the early stages of playing out with the AI Revolution still in the third inning,” wrote tech bull an...