📈 Micron's 3X Data Center Growth

Good morning.

⚡ The Fast Five → Apple TV hits $1B annual loss, Perplexity AI doubles valuation, Nike stock falls, Amazon stock wavers, Micron shares jump on earnings beat

🔎 Market Trends → Stocks slip in choppy trade as economic, tariff outlook eyed

And now…

⏱️ Your 5-minute briefing for Friday, March 21, 2025:

MARKET BRIEF
Before the Open

Pre-Market

Fear & Greed

Markets in Review

Markets Slip as Trump Pressures Fed to Cut Rates

Stocks closed mostly lower Thursday as Trump renewed his push for rate cuts, while the Nasdaq fell 0.3% to 17,691.6 and the S&P 500 dropped 0.2% to 5,662.9. The Dow held steady at 41,953.3. Utilities and energy led the gainers, while materials took the biggest hit.

The Big Picture:

President Trump is turning up the heat on the Fed, calling for rate cuts as US tariffs begin to filter through the economy. This comes a day after the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) held rates steady for a second straight meeting and left its outlook unchanged through 2027.

The European Union delayed planned tariffs on US goods, giving negotiators time to hammer out a deal. Meanwhile, existing home sales unexpectedly rebounded in February as buyers took advantage of improved inventory levels.

Treasury yields edged lower, with the 10-year rate slipping 1.7 basis points to 4.24% and the 2-year yield dropping 1.5 basis points to 3.96%. WTI crude oil gained 1.6% to $68.26 a barrel.

Market Movers:

• Accenture (ACN) dropped 7.3%, the worst performer on the S&P 500, as the consulting giant flagged potential weakness in federal contracts amid Trump's push for government spending cuts.

• Microchip Technology (MCHP) fell 6.5% after announcing plans to sell its wafer fabrication facility in Tempe, Arizona, with Macquarie Group managing the sale.

• Darden Restaurants (DRI) jumped 5.8%, leading the S&P 500, as Olive Garden’s parent beat earnings expectations, even after narrowing its full-year outlook.

• Jabil (JBL) gained 3.1% after lifting its full-year forecast following better-than-expected fiscal Q2 results.

What They’re Saying:

"Mortgage rates haven’t budged much, but more inventory and choices are unlocking pent-up housing demand," said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun on the housing market rebound.

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING
Events

• There are no events scheduled for today.

Earnings Reports

• Today: Carnival, MINISO, NIO, Lithium Americas Corp.

• Monday: KB Home, Toro, Intuitive Machines, Rekor Systems, Westport Fuel Systems

MARKET BRIEF
Leading News

Memory Boom: Micron Crushes Expectations as AI Hunger Drives 3X Data Center Growth

Why it matters:

Micron's blowout quarter signals the AI-driven memory supercycle is real and accelerating, creating potentially lucrative opportunities for investors who understand the structural shift in high-performance computing demand.

Zoom Out:

Micron (MU) shares surged 6% after hours as revenue jumped 38% year-over-year to $8.05 billion, handily beating Wall Street estimates. The memory giant's net income doubled to $1.58 billion, demonstrating remarkable operating leverage as AI workloads drive unprecedented demand.

CEO Sanjay Mehrotra highlighted that data center revenue tripled from a year ago, confirming what savvy chip investors have suspected: the explosive growth in AI infrastructure is creating a new golden era for specialized memory producers.

Key Insights:

• Margin expansion continues: With HBM (high-bandwidth memory) products commanding gross margins around 70% according to Citi analysts, Micron's profitability trajectory appears sustainable, not cyclical.

• Nvidia relationship deepening: The upcoming Rubin GPU architecture will use 288GB of HBM4 DRAM per chip – 50% more than the current Blackwell generation – creating a powerful tailwind for Micron's highest-margin products.

• Supply-demand balance shifting: TrendForce projections of 3-8% sequential price growth in Q2 suggest the memory market has finally reached the favorable pricing environment bulls have anticipated.

Market Pulse:

"When you see a tripling of data center demand, that's not just a cyclical upturn – it's a secular transformation in how computational work gets done," notes one veteran semiconductor analyst.

Bull’s Take:

While Micron shares have already climbed 22% year-to-date (versus the Nasdaq's 8% decline), the company's confident guidance of $8.8 billion in next-quarter revenue suggests this memory bull market still has plenty of room to run. Smart investors should view any volatility as an opportunity to accumulate shares in what's becoming an essential AI infrastructure play.

Headlines

• Executives Scrutinize Apple TV+ Costs Amid $1 Billion Annual Losses (link)

• Perplexity AI in talks to double valuation to $18 billion, raise up to $1 billion in new funding (link)

• Nike Stock Falls After Warning Sales Could Take a Hit From Turnaround Plan, New Tariffs (link)

• Amazon Stock Wavers Near Key Level As Wall Street Sizes Up Tech Giant's Used-Car Plans (link)

• Nvidia’s Big Show Hits Its Marks but Plays to Tough Crowd (link)

• Accenture is DOGE’s first corporate casualty as shares dive on warning that contracts will be cut (link)

CRYPTO
Fear & Greed

Headlines

• Nasdaq's Shift To Round-The-Clock Stock Trading Due to Crypto, Says Exchange Executive (link)

• Kraken to acquire US retail futures platform NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion in largest-ever crypto and tradfi deal (link)

• Trump once again vows to make the US a 'bitcoin superpower' in short address at crypto conference (link)

DAILY SHARE
On the Socials