Investing.com -- Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU) shares soared after the memory chipmaker forecast a sharp jump in revenue and earnings, and all-time high margins for the current quarter, as higher memory prices and demand tied to AI workloads drove record first-quarter results.

Shares of Micron were up more than 13% in premarket trading Thursday by 8:27 AM ET.

The memory chipmaker posted non-GAAP earnings of $4.78 per share for the quarter ended Nov. 27, comfortably beating the average analyst estimate of $3.94.

Revenue rose to $13.64 billion from $8.71 billion a year earlier. Consensus were of $12.83 billion.

Micron has benefited from a sharp rebound in conventional DRAM pricing and rising demand for higher-speed memory tied to generative AI workloads.

For the second quarter of fiscal 2026, Micron forecast revenue of $18.7 billion, plus or minus $400 million. That compares favorably with a Wall Street consensus estimate of $14.23 billion for revenue. The company sees EPS of $8.42 at the midpoint, nearly double the consensus of $4.49.

Gross margins are expected to hit an all-time high of 68%, up 11.2 percentage points quarter-on-quarter.

Checks across the memory supply chain point to double-digit quarterly price increases for DRAM, Micron’s core profit driver, in the current and following quarters, as buyers grow increasingly concerned about supply availability through 2026.

"In fiscal Q1, Micron delivered record revenue and significant margin expansion at the company level and also in each of our business units,” Chief Executive Sanjay Mehrotra said in a statement.

Commenting on the report, Mizuho analyst Vijay Rakesh highlighted Micron’s "massive" February quarter guide.

"We see MU driving continued top line and earnings upside benefiting from positive pricing in HBM/leading-edge DRAM," he wrote, raising the target price to $290 from $270.

The company expects its performance to strengthen through fiscal 2026 as it invests to support growing demand for memory and storage used in AI systems, CEO added.

Demand for high-bandwidth memory and advanced NAND used in AI systems has strengthened, lifting pricing power, margins and cash flow.

Micron said operating cash flow climbed to $8.41 billion, up from $5.73 billion in the prior quarter and $3.24 billion a year earlier, while free cash flow hit a record level.