Micron Shares Explode To The Upside After Unveiling New Technology

Joel Elconin is the co-host of Benzinga's #PreMarket Prep, a daily trading idea radio show.

Micron Technology, Inc. MU shares were trading higher by $1.81 (10 percent) at $19.93 in Tuesday's session. The catalyst for the explosive rally may be the unveiling, along with Intel Corporation INTC, of 3D XPoint Technology, a non-volatile memory that has huge upside potential.

The announcement prompted Drexel Hamilton to upgrade the issue to Buy.

After a slightly higher open ($18.35 vs. Monday's close of $18.12) it retreated to $18.20 before exploding to the upside. It reached $20.08 before falling back under $20.

The issue has not traded above $20 since June 26, when it peaked at $20.60 following a disastrous Q3 earnings report, when the company missed the mark for EPS and revenues by a wide margin.

The last time it closed over $20 was on June 25, when it ended the session at $24.02, the day of the poor Q3 report.

Micron has badly trailed the overall market in 2015. It is down nearly 43 percent from its December 31 close ($35.01) compared to the broad markets gain of nearly 2 percent.

Today's price action is taking place on slightly higher than average volume. So far, it has traded 40.7 million shares compared to its 20-day average of 37.9 million with less than one hour remaining in the session.