Micron Posts Record $54.2 Billion Quarter as AI Data Center Sales Jump 11-Fold

* Editor's note: AI PRISM (Personalized Report & Insight Summarizing Media) is an artificial intelligence-based personalized news recommendation and summary service developed with support from the Korea Press Foundation. It selects and provides six news items tailored to each reader type.

1. Micron's AI Data Center Earnings Jump 11-Fold, With 35% of Revenue Through 2030 Already Secured

- Key points: Micron posted record revenue of $54.23 billion (about 73.704 trillion won) in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026. The driver was its data center business, which generated $18 billion, more than 11 times the $1.577 billion recorded a year earlier. Micron's strategic customer agreements (SCAs) rose to 26 from 16 in the previous quarter, through which the company is estimated to have secured more than 35% of its revenue through 2030 in advance. Still, with capital expenditure in the first half of fiscal 2027 projected to reach $25 billion, some observers are watching for a slowdown in margins.

2. Korea Investment Holdings Bond Draws 1.8 Trillion Won; Korea Zinc Sees Three Times Its Target

- Key points: Korea Investment Holdings received orders of 1.84 trillion won, more than seven times its target, in a demand forecast for a 250 billion won corporate bond offering. Both the two-year and three-year tranches were filled at 16 basis points and 15 basis points, respectively, below the market-assessed yields for comparable maturities, which are company-specific rates set by private bond rating agencies. Korea Zinc, which held its demand forecast the same day, drew 482 billion won, more than three times its 150 billion won target, securing a spread 8 basis points below its market-assessed yield. By contrast, hybrid securities from JB Financial Group, rated A+, drew just 103 billion won against a 100 billion won target, barely filling the offering, and the final rate is expected to be set at the top of the indicated range.

3. Government to Cut October Treasury Bond Issuance by 5 Trillion Won Using Excess Tax Revenue

- Key points: The Ministry of Finance and Economy said on the 1st that it would cut October Treasury bond issuance by 5 trillion won from its original plan. It will issue 12 trillion won through competitive bidding involving primary dealers (PDs) and 500 billion won through exchanges. The competitive bidding volume alone is 4 trillion won lower than September's 16 trillion won. The ministry will also increase Treasury bond buybacks to 3.5 trillion won from 1.5 trillion won the previous month, an increase of 2 trillion won, to ease supply and demand pressure in the bond market. The government plans to deploy part of the 63.2 trillion won in excess tax revenue relative to the supplementary budget to help stabilize sharply higher market rates.

4. Driven by Chip Suppliers and Expanded Small-Cap Research, KOSDAQ Races Higher

- Key points: The KOSDAQ index closed on the 1st at 894.29, up 38.38 points, or 4.48%, from the previous session, its highest level since July 1. The gain stood out against the KOSPI's 1.95% rise the same day, and the index has risen a cumulative 10.8% over the past 11 trading sessions. Semiconductor materials, parts and equipment companies including Wonik IPS (240810.KQ), LEENO Industrial (058470.KQ), EO Technics (039030.KQ), Simmtech (222800.KQ) and HPSP (403870.KQ) all closed sharply higher. Analysts also said investor attention was drawn by the Financial Services Commission's requirement that comprehensive financial investment business operators devote at least 25% of their annual reports to small and mid-cap stocks.

5. Trump Pins $50 Billion on Alaska, Deepening Uncertainty

- Key points: A program under which South Korea will invest $200 billion in the United States was finalized on the 1st. U.S. President Donald Trump said investment in the Alaska liquefied natural gas (LNG) project would amount to more than $50 billion, but that figure was not included in the fact sheet jointly released by the two countries. President Lee Jae-myung immediately countered that the Alaska LNG project would proceed only on the condition that its commercial viability is confirmed and that it complies with domestic legal procedures. The investment funds, to be disbursed at up to $20 billion a year, are also expected to be a source of instability in the foreign exchange market over the next decade and to affect the bond market.

6. Semiconductor Supercycle Drives September Exports Past $120 Billion for First Time; $1 Trillion Year Possible as Early as November

- Key points: Exports last month totaled $120.94 billion, up 83.5% from the same month a year earlier, topping $120 billion for the first time. Semiconductor exports surged 262.8% to $60.3 billion, accounting for 49.9% of total exports. Memory chip exports rose 358.6% to $54.07 billion, while the trade surplus reached $49.85 billion, exceeding $40 billion for the first time. Cumulative exports of $814.5 billion from January through September have already surpassed last year's full-year figure, previously the highest on record. Kang Gam-chan, head of the trade and investment office at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, said that if monthly exports reach $100 billion in about two of the remaining three months, the country could hit $1 trillion in annual exports in late November or early December.