{"id":255118,"date":"2026-01-20T23:25:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T23:25:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/255118\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T23:25:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T23:25:12","slug":"a-wall-street-analyst-just-revealed-her-top-artificial-intelligence-ai-chip-stock-for-2026-and-its-not-nvidia-heres-why-i-think-she-could-be-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/255118\/","title":{"rendered":"A Wall Street Analyst Just Revealed Her Top Artificial Intelligence (AI) Chip Stock for 2026 &#8212; and It&#8217;s Not Nvidia. Here&#8217;s Why I Think She Could Be Right."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Beth Kindig of the I\/O Fund is calling for Micron to have a big year.<\/p>\n<p>For the last three years, there has been no company in the semiconductor industry as dominant as Nvidia (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/quote\/nasdaq\/nvda\/\" class=\"font-bold hover:underline\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">NVDA<\/a> 4.42%). The company kick-started the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution with its Hopper graphics processing units (GPU) &#8212; following up its smash original series with sequels featuring the Blackwell and new Vera Rubin architectures.<\/p>\n<p>More recently, however, Nvidia is beginning to get a run for its money. And no, I&#8217;m not talking about competition from Advanced Micro Devices or custom silicon designed by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/investing\/2026\/01\/13\/wall-street-has-a-new-favorite-artificial-intellig\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Broadcom<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ycharts.com\/companies\/MU\/chart\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\"><img alt=\"MU Chart\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"720\" height=\"524\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"h-auto max-w-full rounded object-contain\" style=\"color:transparent;max-width:720px\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/582897417693d3a01ca8b2564605602c.png\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"caption\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ycharts.com\/companies\/MU\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">MU<\/a> data by <a href=\"https:\/\/ycharts.com\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">YCharts<\/a><\/p>\n<p>In 2025, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/investing\/2026\/01\/13\/prediction-ai-chip-stock-will-outperform-nvidia\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Micron Technology<\/a> (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/quote\/nasdaq\/mu\/\" class=\"font-bold hover:underline\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">MU<\/a> +0.62%) was the top-performing AI chip stock among mainstream players. Its 239% gain last year handily placed it among the leaders of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/terms\/n\/nasdaq-100\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Nasdaq-100<\/a> index. While this level of momentum is hard to keep up, one analyst on Wall Street just got even more bullish on Micron.<\/p>\n<p>Beth Kindig of the I\/O Fund listed Micron as one of her top 10 stocks to own in 2026. Even more interesting? Micron is Kindig&#8217;s No. 1 choice among AI chip stocks &#8212; and I think she could be spot on about this.<\/p>\n<p>Below, I&#8217;ll dig into what makes Micron such an important player in the semiconductor value chain. From there, I&#8217;ll analyze Micron&#8217;s valuation profile and explain why 2026 could be another monster year for the growth stock.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Micron headquarters with logo.\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"880\" height=\"528\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"h-auto max-w-full rounded object-contain\" style=\"color:transparent\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768951511_663_.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"caption\">Image source: Micron Technology.<\/p>\n<p>Who is Beth Kindig?<\/p>\n<p>If you tune into financial news programs on CNBC or Fox Business, it&#8217;s not unusual to hear Wall Street parrot the same talking points. Specifically, analysts can sometimes become a bit obsessive over traditional valuation metrics &#8212; citing sales and earnings multiples relative to historical benchmarks.<\/p>\n<p>While this approach can be useful, dialing in on numbers can often lead to paralysis by analysis. What I mean by that is constantly tweaking financial models can lead to missing the bigger picture.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/investing\/how-to-invest\/investors-like-me\/beth-kindig\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Beth Kindig<\/a> is the founder of technology research firm, I\/O Fund. Unlike many of her peers, Kindig tends to take a more macro view point in her investment outlook.<\/p>\n<p>Instead of relying purely on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/terms\/t\/technical-analysis\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">technical analysis<\/a>, Kindig takes a more <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/terms\/t\/thematic-investing\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">thematic approach<\/a>. In her reporting, Kindig often cites trends that she sees among <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/terms\/c\/capital-expenditure\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">capital expenditure<\/a> (capex) budgets and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/terms\/s\/supply-chain-management\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">supply chain cycles<\/a>, and then ties these dynamics into a broader growth narrative among industry leaders.<\/p>\n<p>As it pertains to AI, Kindig&#8217;s analysis has been largely been accurate among the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/terms\/h\/hyperscalers\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">hyperscalers<\/a>. Said differently, when many on Wall Street became cautious about big tech&#8217;s ability to fund its AI ambitions &#8212; alluding to a potential bubble &#8212; Kindig doubled down on the growth narrative.<\/p>\n<p>While Nvidia remains a top pick across Wall Street, Kindig sees some hidden value in less-appreciated names. This is what makes Micron so interesting right now.<\/p>\n<p>Why is Micron stock going parabolic?<\/p>\n<p>The surge in Micron stock has everything to do with the company&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/terms\/v\/value-proposition\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">value proposition<\/a>. GPUs and AI accelerators designed by Nvidia and AMD are the brains that power <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/terms\/g\/generative-ai\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">generative AI<\/a> applications. But behind the scenes, Micron is playing a mission-critical role in keeping GPU clusters running at top speeds around the clock.<\/p>\n<p>AI workloads are becoming larger and more sophisticated as new use cases come to life. This places enormous strain on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/terms\/a\/ai-training\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">training<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/terms\/a\/ai-inference\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">inferencing AI models<\/a>. As such, memory and storage &#8212; how data flows across GPU clusters &#8212; becomes a major pain point.<\/p>\n<p>These dynamics make Micron&#8217;s high-bandwidth memory (HBM) solutions an absolute necessity for the AI infrastructure era. To put this into perspective, just look at the rate at which Micron&#8217;s business is growing.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ycharts.com\/companies\/MU\/chart\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\"><img alt=\"MU Revenue (Quarterly) Chart\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"720\" height=\"473\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"h-auto max-w-full rounded object-contain\" style=\"color:transparent;max-width:720px\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/fdee237ade17e7601c8e71239a145e55.png\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"caption\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ycharts.com\/companies\/MU\/revenues\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">MU Revenue (Quarterly)<\/a> data by <a href=\"https:\/\/ycharts.com\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">YCharts<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Over the last year, Micron&#8217;s revenue acceleration has steepened materially. More importantly, however, the company&#8217;s gross profit is rising in lockstep with the company&#8217;s top line. As a result, Micron can command compelling unit economics in the form of steady, robust <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/terms\/f\/free-cash-flow\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">free cash flow<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>As hyperscalers double down on their infrastructure plans and chip designers continue to release next-generation architectures, Micron&#8217;s HBM platform should continue to evolve into a durable business supported by a strong, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/terms\/s\/secular-trend\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">secular AI narrative<\/a> as opposed to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/investing\/stock-market\/types-of-stocks\/cyclical-stocks\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">cyclical<\/a> upgrade cycles that plague the PC and smartphone industry.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Micron Technology Stock Quote\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"64\" height=\"64\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"w-full flex-none object-contain\" style=\"color:transparent\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768951511_822_.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Today&#8217;s Change<\/p>\n<p>(0.62%) $2.25<\/p>\n<p>Current Price<\/p>\n<p>$365.00<\/p>\n<p>Key Data Points<\/p>\n<p>Market Cap<\/p>\n<p>$408B<\/p>\n<p>Day&#8217;s Range<\/p>\n<p>$361.35 &#8211; $381.56<\/p>\n<p>52wk Range<\/p>\n<p>$61.54 &#8211; $381.56<\/p>\n<p>Volume<\/p>\n<p>50M<\/p>\n<p>Avg Vol<\/p>\n<p>27M<\/p>\n<p>Gross Margin<\/p>\n<p>45.53%<\/p>\n<p>Dividend Yield<\/p>\n<p>0.13%<\/p>\n<p>Can Micron stock beat the market again in 2026?<\/p>\n<p>Despite its dramatic rise over the last year, Micron stock still trades at a modest <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/terms\/f\/forward-pe\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">forward price-to-earnings<\/a> (P\/E) ratio of just 10.9. I think there are two factors influencing Micron&#8217;s valuation.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ycharts.com\/companies\/MU\/chart\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\"><img alt=\"MU PE Ratio (Forward) Chart\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"720\" height=\"441\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"h-auto max-w-full rounded object-contain\" style=\"color:transparent;max-width:720px\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/6b37d3651be8b4448b479f468dff259a.png\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"caption\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ycharts.com\/companies\/MU\/forward_pe_ratio\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">MU PE Ratio (Forward)<\/a> data by <a href=\"https:\/\/ycharts.com\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">YCharts<\/a><\/p>\n<p>First, growth investors remain intensely focused on the GPU industry. Against this backdrop, Micron stays in the shadows of Nvidia and AMD. In addition, I think not enough investors truly understand Micron&#8217;s importance on a technological level. In other words, investors may not fully appreciate Micron&#8217;s position to grow alongside its adjacent chip counterparts.<\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, Wall Street is quietly calling for Micron to have a record year in 2026. The consensus estimate for earnings per share (EPS) this fiscal year is $32.61 &#8212; nearly a threefold increase over the company&#8217;s trailing 12-month earnings.<\/p>\n<p>This degree of compounding growth should fuel meaningful <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/terms\/v\/what-is-valuation-expansion\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">valuation expansion<\/a> as more investors come to understand Micron is sitting on a multi-year growth arc powered by accelerating AI infrastructure investment.<\/p>\n<p>In my eyes, Micron stock remains dirt cheap and a no-brainer buy right now. I agree with Kindig&#8217;s assessment that shares of Micron could continue to rally during 2026 and beyond.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Beth Kindig of the I\/O Fund is calling for Micron to have a big year. For the last&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":255119,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[220,218,219,61,60,80],"class_list":["post-255118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=255118"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255118\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/255119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=255118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=255118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=255118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}