MU vs WDC Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Micron and Western Digital are both semiconductor memory and storage companies, but with different memory type emphasis. Micron is primarily DRAM and HBM (critical for AI GPUs) with NAND as a secondary business. WDC is primarily NAND flash (SSDs) and hard disk drives (HDDs). Micron's HBM position in AI accelerators is the differentiated growth driver; WDC's NAND flash is important but lacks the AI memory premium Micron's HBM commands.
MU vs WDC is DRAM and HBM3E AI memory leadership with unique US domestic manufacturing (Micron) versus NAND flash storage and HDD diversification in a business separation in progress (Western Digital) — Micron's HBM positioning in AI GPUs provides a premium growth driver that WDC's NAND/HDD portfolio cannot match.
MU holds the edge across 5 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. MU leads on both 1-year return (+501.46%) and forward P/E quality (6.02x vs 14.72x for WDC), a relatively favorable combination of momentum and valuation. MU leads on both revenue growth (345.70%) and operating margin (80.37%), suggesting a stronger fundamental setup on both dimensions. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for MU (+62.23%) than for WDC (+42.24%).
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
- prefer HBM3E memory exposure as a critical and scarce AI GPU component sold out through 2025+
- value Micron's US domestic DRAM/HBM manufacturing as the only American memory manufacturer with national security strategic importance
- want semiconductor memory exposure with HBM providing above-cycle pricing and margin relative to commodity DRAM/NAND
- are comfortable with memory market cyclicality — DRAM and NAND pricing can fall dramatically in supply glut periods
- prefer a NAND flash storage company with enterprise SSD and HDD businesses covering data center storage across all capacity tiers
- value the Flash/HDD business separation creating cleaner focus and potential valuation rerating for the separated NAND business
- want storage sector exposure with HDD nearline cloud storage remaining relevant while enterprise SSD builds share
- are comfortable with severe NAND pricing cyclicality, Kioxia manufacturing complexity, and HDD secular volume decline as SSDs displace spinning disk
| Metric | MU | WDC |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 96.0 | 71.8 |
| AI ranki | #1 | #34 |
| Latest closei | $1,015.80 | $441.36 |
| 1M returni | +8.40% | -4.49% |
| 6M returni | +128.64% | +39.26% |
| 1Y returni | +501.46% | +319.74% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | MU | WDC |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $60.15K (+501.5%) started 2025-09-18 | $41.97K (+319.7%) started 2025-09-18 |
| 5Y ago | $146.92K (+1369.2%) started 2021-09-20 | $103.13K (+931.3%) started 2021-09-20 |
| 10Y ago | $627.28K (+6172.8%) started 2016-09-19 | $114.31K (+1043.1%) started 2016-09-19 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | MU | WDC |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $1.05T | $168.54B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 21.10 | 17.36 |
| Forward P/Ei | 6.02 | 14.72 |
| Price/Salesi | 3.87 | 1.24 |
| EV/Revenuei | 11.45 | 13.02 |
| Analyst targeti | $1,513.41 | $664.92 |
| Target upsidei | +62.23% | +42.24% |
| Metric | MU | WDC |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 345.70% | 43.80% |
| Earnings growthi | 1368.50% | 984.10% |
| EPS growthi | +1368.50% | +984.10% |
| FCF margini | +8.46% | +17.56% |
| Operating margini | 80.37% | 43.61% |
| Profit margini | 55.91% | 72.95% |
| ROIC proxyi | 66.64% | 130.85% |
| Return on equityi | 66.64% | 130.85% |
| Dividend yieldi | 0.06% | 0.13% |
| Payout ratioi | 1.12% | 1.86% |
| Dividend growth streaki | No increase yet | No increase yet |
| Betai | 2.21 | 2.18 |
| Debt/equityi | 6.33 | 13.44 |
| Current ratioi | 3.42 | 1.33 |
| Quick ratioi | 2.93 | 0.85 |
Over the past year, MU and WDC have moved strongly in the same direction (correlation of 0.71), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | MU | WDC |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | +501.46% | +319.74% |
| CAGRi | +502.20% | +320.16% | |
| Volatilityi | 81.48% | 80.35% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 2.56 | 2.14 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 4.32 | 3.42 | |
| Max drawdowni | 39.10% | 44.79% | |
| Current drawdowni | 16.30% | 40.85% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 9.19% | 11.58% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 13.17% | 17.64% | |
| Max daily dropi | 13.25% | 13.17% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 22.98% | 21.41% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +1335.75% | +931.30% |
| CAGRi | +70.47% | +59.54% | |
| Volatilityi | 56.77% | 52.85% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 1.15 | 1.07 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 1.79 | 1.64 | |
| Max drawdowni | 57.63% | 55.32% | |
| Current drawdowni | 16.30% | 40.85% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 23.24% | 21.43% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 27.78% | 26.88% | |
| Max daily dropi | 16.18% | 18.26% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 26.73% | 24.82% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +6030.10% | +1005.31% |
| CAGRi | +50.94% | +27.17% | |
| Volatilityi | 51.63% | 50.27% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.97 | 0.64 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 1.47 | 0.93 | |
| Max drawdowni | 57.63% | 72.21% | |
| Current drawdowni | 16.30% | 40.85% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 20.48% | 37.13% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 25.10% | 42.97% | |
| Max daily dropi | 19.82% | 20.44% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 27.76% | 35.33% |
| Category | MU | WDC |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Micron Technology, Inc. | Western Digital Corporation |
| Sector | Technology | Technology |
| Industry | Semiconductors | Computer Hardware |
| Core business | Micron is the largest US semiconductor memory company, manufacturing DRAM (dynamic random access memory), NAND flash memory, and high-bandwidth memory (HBM). HBM3E is the AI GPU memory standard — every Nvidia H100/B100 AI chip requires Micron, SK Hynix, or Samsung HBM stacks. Micron is the only US manufacturer of DRAM and HBM, making it a national security priority for domestic AI infrastructure supply chains. Micron's NAND flash business serves data center SSDs, consumer storage, and mobile devices. | Western Digital is a data storage company manufacturing NAND flash storage (SSDs, flash drives) and hard disk drives (HDDs, spinning disk). WDC is spinning off its HDD business from its NAND/Flash business — the Flash segment competes with Micron, Samsung, and Kioxia in NAND; the HDD business (under the WD and SanDisk brands) competes with Seagate. NAND flash is the primary growth market; HDDs face gradual replacement by SSDs in enterprise markets. |
| Investor focus | Investors track DRAM and NAND pricing cycles (memory is highly cyclical), HBM3E/HBM4 allocation progress (sold out through 2025+), and data center DRAM demand from AI server buildout. | Investors track NAND flash pricing recovery, HDD enterprise market share, the Flash/HDD separation progress, and data center SSD demand from cloud storage expansion. |
- HBM3E is the critical memory in every Nvidia AI GPU — Micron is one of only three global HBM manufacturers alongside SK Hynix and Samsung
- Data center DRAM demand is growing at above-historical-trend rates as AI servers require more DRAM than traditional servers per unit
- US domestic memory manufacturing creates national security strategic value — CHIPS Act funding supports Micron's Idaho and New York fab expansions
- NAND flash leader with SanDisk brand — SanDisk's brand recognition in consumer flash storage and WD's enterprise SSD presence span both consumer and enterprise markets
- HDD spinning disk remains relevant for nearline cloud storage — hyperscalers still buy HDDs for capacity storage where cost-per-terabyte matters more than performance
- Flash/HDD separation creates sharper focus — the separated Flash company can allocate capital purely to NAND competitiveness without HDD drag
- Memory is notoriously cyclical — DRAM and NAND prices can fall 50%+ in down-cycles as supply catches up to demand
- SK Hynix has been the primary HBM beneficiary with earlier HBM3E production ramp — Micron must catch up in HBM allocation
- China market sales restrictions reduce Micron's NAND TAM in the world's largest memory-consuming economy
- NAND pricing is extremely cyclical — massive oversupply periods (2022–2023) produced devastating losses across the industry
- Kioxia partnership and manufacturing arrangements create operational complexity not present in Micron's fully captive manufacturing
- SSD penetration of enterprise storage is inevitable but creates eventual HDD volume decline as SSDs capture more enterprise storage capacity
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