Nasdaq Composite Hits Fresh High as Micron Surges Into $1 Trillion Club

The Nasdaq Composite climbed to a new all-time high of 26,725.29 on Tuesday, rising 1% in the first session following the Memorial Day holiday, powered by an explosive rally in semiconductor and AI-linked technology stocks that underscored markets’ continued appetite for growth despite mounting valuation concerns.

Leading The Index

Micron shares have emerged as the session’s standout performer, soaring 17% to push the memory chipmaker’s market capitalisation past the $1 trillion threshold for the first time in its history, with a new ATH of $891.27. The move came after UBS more than tripled its price target on the stock to a Street-high $1,625 from $535, arguing that artificial intelligence workloads have fundamentally reset demand dynamics and pricing power for high-bandwidth memory chips.

Beyond Micron, risk appetite extended across the technology spectrum.

AST SpaceMobile jumped 15.96%, whilst Intuitive Machines climbed 13.93%, reflecting strong demand for next-generation space and satellite connectivity plays.

SanDisk, AppLovin, and NuScale Power all posted gains between 7% and 12%, demonstrating broad participation in AI infrastructure, storage, advertising technology, and advanced energy themes.

Quantum Stocks Pull Back

The rally was not without its casualties, as Quantum computing names, which had enjoyed a parabolic run in recent sessions, pulled back sharply as traders rotated capital into larger, more liquid opportunities, with the Government investment catalyst fading a little.

D-Wave Quantum declined 9.15%, Rigetti Computing fell 8.95%, and IonQ shed 2.66%, marking the first meaningful profit-taking in a sub-sector that had become a favourite among speculative momentum traders.

Driving The Market To Fresh Highs

The Nasdaq’s continued rally is driven primarily by semiconductor and AI-related stocks, with the index’s breadth skewed heavily toward high-growth technology names whilst defensive and value-oriented sectors lagged. The S&P 500 also reached a fresh record, though the leadership remained concentrated in a narrow cohort of AI beneficiaries rather than reflecting broad economic strength.

Micron’s surge represented the clearest validation yet of Wall Street’s conviction that AI memory demand represents a structural, multi-year growth cycle rather than a transient spike. UBS analysts pointed to sustained tightness in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) supply and robust pricing power as evidence that the AI boom has fundamentally altered the competitive landscape for DRAM manufacturers. The magnitude of the price target revision, a near-tripling in a single note, underscored how dramatically sell-side models have shifted to incorporate longer-duration AI infrastructure spending.

The gains in space-focused names such as AST SpaceMobile and Intuitive Machines highlighted markets’ willingness to pay up for companies positioned at the intersection of connectivity, edge computing, and future AI workloads, especially with hype surrounding the SpaceX IPO. AppLovin’s double-digit advance reflected optimism around AI-driven advertising technology, whilst NuScale Power’s rally tapped into the narrative that nuclear and small modular reactor (SMR) solutions will be essential to power the data centres underpinning AI expansion.

From a macro perspective, the rally continues to benefit from the absence of fresh hawkish signals from the Federal Reserve and ongoing expectations that policy will eventually ease into 2025 and 2026. However, technology stocks remain acutely sensitive to any shift in the “higher for longer” interest rate narrative. As valuations across both high-quality and speculative technology names have expanded, the margin for error has narrowed considerably. Any disappointment in AI capital expenditure trends, regulatory headwinds, or a major earnings miss from a key AI bellwether could trigger sharp mean reversion in the same leaders currently carrying the index.