Micron CEO sells $37M in stock as shares extend 29% July slide

Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra sold $37.3 million in shares, adding to $140 million in insider disposals since May.

The transaction covered 40,000 shares and was executed through a Rule 10b5-1 plan adopted Jan. 30, the company said. The arrangement allows the Mehrotra Family Trust to sell as many as 200,000 shares between May 1, 2026, and May 1, 2027. While the pre-scheduled plan weakens the signal of a sudden bearish shift, the scale of disposals — $21.5 million on May 1, roughly $36 million in late May and about $46.3 million in late June — has drawn scrutiny as the stock tumbles.

Micron shares fell 8.9% on Tuesday to $820.53, extending the July decline to about 29%. The stock is now 34.6% below its June 25 peak of $1,255. The selloff accelerated after Chinese DRAM maker CXMT Corp. raised $8.6 billion in a Shanghai IPO, reviving concerns that China's memory capacity could ramp faster than expected. The PHLX Semiconductor Index lost about 4.5% on Tuesday, with SanDisk Corp. falling 14.25%, SK hynix Inc. dropping about 9% and Samsung Electronics Co. tumbling 13.4%.

The bear case centers on the optics of a chief executive monetizing an exceptional rally. Trivariate Research called Micron "the most important stock in the market" in a July 16 report, describing the shares as a proxy for the AI cycle and investors' willingness to take risk. That role magnifies the impact of an insider sale even when the transaction was planned months in advance.

The bullish counterargument rests on Micron's changing business structure. UBS analyst Timothy Arcuri has argued that longer customer agreements, committed volumes and partially fixed pricing could give the company better visibility and a smoother earnings profile than in previous memory cycles. Micron has disclosed 16 multiyear strategic customer agreements covering about 20% of DRAM volume and one-third of NAND volume through 2030, with 14 contracts securing roughly $100 billion in minimum revenue.

The stock now trades at 6.6 times annualized guided earnings, down from 10.1 times at the June peak — a multiple reset rather than an estimate reset. FactSet's preliminary consensus for fiscal fourth-quarter EPS stands at $31.16, up from $31.06 a month earlier. Micron projects Q4 revenue of $50 billion, plus or minus $1 billion, with gross margin near 86%.

The decline puts Micron at its lowest since the start of the year, testing support levels not seen since before the AI-driven rally accelerated. Investors will watch SK hynix's earnings on Wednesday and results from key AI hyperscalers this week for signals on memory demand durability.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.