Micron's big gains should give bulls some hope
The chipmaker and Nike top the week's earnings reports
On Monday, shares of chip maker Micron Technology (MU) slumped 6.3% to $87.08, their lowest level since December.
Micron wasn't alone. Stocks slumped badly as investors tried to deal with President Trump's big campaign to boost tariffs on imports and signs of global economic weakening.
The week in total was basically crummy except for a sharp rally on Friday. The Standard & Poor's 500 and Nasdaq Composite indexes suffered their fourth straight weekly losses. The Dow Jones industrials fell for the third week in four.
Some $5 trillion in shareholder wealth has disappeared in the stock-market selloff.
All three indexes are down for the year, and some stocks, especially Tesla (TSLA) , have absorbed brutal losses. Tesla has fallen 38% this year.
Related: Does Friday's big rally mean the worst is over?
The slump was not one that investors generally and Wall Street in particular expected.
The immediate catalyst has been the market reaction to President Trump's tariff proposals and government layoffs. And the reaction is due as much to shock Trump is serious about tariffs, which goes against global trade policy since the 1950s.
But many companies, especially consumer-facing companies, had been warning for at least a quarter that customers are worried about the economy overall and have spending with more discipline than before.
A potential exception to conventional wisdom
But not Micron. Its shares jumped 15.7% on the week, including a 6.2% gain on Friday alone.
It's up nearly 20% for the year and up 20.6% from its 52-week low of $83.54, reached on Dec. 20.
And the earnings and revenue estimates for its fiscal second quarter, due after Thursday's close, are bullish.
Micron is one of the three largest makers of DRAM memory chips used by companies ranging from Nvidia (NVDA) , Microsoft (MSFT) , Apple (AAPL) and Dell (DELL) . Nvidia is using Micron's chips in its Blackwell family of graphic processing units and may well be Micron's biggest customer.
Based in Boise, Idaho, Micron has 48,000 employees in the Americas, Asia and Europe.
If the company is showing strength, maybe tech is more resilient than investors have thought. And maybe stocks then can bask in Micron's halo.
Investors will get a better idea when the earnings come out. 
The flip side of the question: Micron is, in fact, a very volatile stock. It has had 24 separate sessions in the last year where the shares were up or down 5% or more, according to StockStory.org.
Micron's estimates are breaking down like this:
Earnings: Due after Thursday's close. Market capitalization: $112.3 billion as of March 14. Stock price: $100.79, up 6.2% on Friday. Up 19.8% in 2025. Down 4.5% since the Nov. 5 election. Earnings estimate: $1.43 a share for the second fiscal quarter, up 240% from a year ago. first quarter, up 37% from a year ago. Revenue estimate: $7.92 billion, up 36% from a year ago.
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Accenture, Nike, FedEx, Lennar and Olive Tree's parent report this week
Micron is not the biggest company to report earnings this week. But it is quite large.
And, in a week of relatively few reports coming out, there are a number large companies worth paying attention to. Many earnings will note how results are being affected by the tariff questions, and the earnings calls will probably feature much discussion about tariffs and the health of the consumer.
The week's list includes:
- Food giant General Mills (GIS) . Wednesday before the market open. Maker of Cheerios, Wheaties, Bisquick. Haagen-Daz ice cream and Blue Bison dog food. Earnings estimate: $1.01 a share, down 14% from a year ago.
- Accenture (ACN) , the consulting giant. Thursday before the open. Earnings estimate: $2.82 a share, up 1.8%.
- Nike (NKE) , the athletic shoe-and-apparel giant. After Thursday's close. The company recently shook up its top management which had unsuccessfully eschewed retail outlets in favor of online sales. Earnings estimate: 28 cents a share, down 63% from a year ago.
- Package shipper FedEx (FDX) . After Thursday's close. Earnings estimate: $4.72 a share, up 22.3%.
- Home builder Lennar (LEN) . Thursday after the close. (Earnings call at 11 a.m. ET Friday.) Earnings estimate: $1.73 a share, down 33%.
- Restaurant operator Darden Restaurants (DRI) . Thursday before the open. Darden is best know for its Olive Garden restaurant chain. Earnings estimate: $2.79 a share, up 6.5%.
Related: Veteran fund manager who correctly forecast S&P 500 crash updates outlook
