Key Highlights

● Micron slipped on Friday, closing at $1,029.00, with no company-specific news, after a steep drop on Thursday.

● Micron makes DRAM and NAND memory chips, including the high-bandwidth memory that sits alongside AI processors.

● Sandisk also slipped to $1,581.82, while Nvidia lost $1.20 to $229.28 and AMD dropped $12.58 to $608.10.

● Software and Cybersecurity stocks rallied while the PHLX Semiconductor index slipped, and chips lagged for the week.

Micron (NASDAQ:MU) Technology slipped on Friday, closing at $1,029.00 and missing out on the rebound that lifted much of the technology sector. The decline was small, but it came on top of a steep drop on Thursday, when the memory maker was among the hardest-hit names in an AI-driven selloff. There was no company-specific news on Friday.

Micron makes DRAM and NAND memory chips, including the high-bandwidth memory that sits alongside AI processors in data-center servers. That Business has made it one of the biggest beneficiaries of the artificial-intelligence build-out, and it explains why the stock trades at more than $1,000 a share after a powerful run. It also leaves Micron highly sensitive to any sign that AI spending could slow.

The OpenAI shock

That sign appeared on Thursday. A media report said that OpenAI's annualized Revenue was about $50 billion at the end of September, roughly $20 billion below a figure that had circulated in late September. Investors quickly began to question how much more the AI industry could spend on chips if one of its biggest buyers was earning less than believed. Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), Oracle (NYSE:ORCL), Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO), AMD (NASDAQ:AMD) and CoreWeave (NASDAQ:CRWV) all slid, and the Nasdaq Composite closed sharply lower.

On Friday, reports that OpenAI expects to reach $70 billion or more in annualized revenue by year-end helped steady nerves. Software and cybersecurity stocks rallied hard, with Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Palantir (NASDAQ:PLTR), Datadog (NASDAQ:DDOG), CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:CRWD) and Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) all posting strong gains. But the bounce did not reach the chipmakers. The PHLX Semiconductor Index slipped, a major semiconductor exchange-traded fund fell, Nvidia lost $1.20 to $229.28 and AMD dropped $12.58 to $608.10.

Memory names stayed weak

Fellow memory and storage company Sandisk (NASDAQ:SNDK) also slipped, closing at $1,581.82. The pattern suggested investors were more willing to buy back software businesses, whose revenue comes from subscriptions, than chipmakers whose fortunes depend directly on data-center spending budgets.

"Chips have been this year's story," Michael Monaghan, portfolio manager at Founder ETFs, said. This week, though, the script flipped. Semiconductor stocks were among the weakest areas of the market for the week, while software ended well ahead. One weekly review concluded that Leadership had moved out of the AI trade.

Memory prices have also become a talking point beyond the chip sector. a media report said Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had cut October component orders for its iPhone 18 Pro models, citing weaker-than-expected Demand after price increases driven by memory costs. Apple shares fell $3.78 to $336.64 on the report.

The broader market

Despite the chip weakness, the indexes rose. The Nasdaq-100 gained 157.34 points to 30,883.15, the Nasdaq Composite rose 172.83 points to 27,366.17 and the S&P 500 added 46.18 points to 7,811.54, just below Tuesday's record close. The Dow climbed 423.31 points to 51,654.95. Volume was light.

High rates remain a backdrop for richly valued tech. The 10-year Treasury Yield held near a 24-year high, and the Fed, which raised rates in September for the first time since 2023, has signaled more hikes may follow. "The biggest systemic risk in the market next year is not France but 'something going wrong' in the AI ecosystem," said George Saravelos of Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB).

TSMC's Report and OpenAI's Revenue Path Could Move Micron and Memory Stocks Again

Monday, October 12 is Columbus Day, with stocks open and bonds closed. September consumer prices arrive Wednesday, October 14, bank Earnings run from October 13 to 16 and the Fed meets on October 27 and 28. TSMC (NYSE:TSM)'s results on Thursday, October 15 will offer the next major read on AI chip demand, and any further detail on OpenAI's revenue path could move memory stocks again.