Micron stock rises as memory chip demand strengthens ahead of earnings

Micron Technology shares rose about 6% on Monday, before the company reports its earnings on Wednesday. Other memory chip companies also gained. Western Digital climbed 6%, and South Korean firm SK Hynix jumped more than 11%.

Investors are buying memory chip stocks because demand from artificial intelligence is growing fast. Supply is also limited, which pushes prices higher. Apple's chief executive Tim Cook has said that rising memory costs could make Apple products more expensive.

Micron's share price has more than doubled since the end of March. One forecasting website put the chance of Micron beating earnings expectations at 97%. Investment firm Needham recently raised its price target for Micron to $1,550.