Fueled by persistent artificial intelligence demand, shares of memory chip leader Micron Technology surged over 11% on Tuesday, closing at $640.2. This rally pushed the company's market capitalization to approximately $721.89 billion, marking the first time it has exceeded the $700 billion threshold. A key factor behind the stock's rise is a market reassessment of the memory chip industry's cyclical nature. A recent report from research firm IDC suggests that, supported by AI demand, the memory chip market may break free from its traditional cyclical volatility pattern. This perspective holds significant implications for investors. Historically, the memory chip sector has faced valuation constraints due to its pronounced cyclical characteristics. However, sustained demand growth driven by AI is altering market perceptions of the industry. Micron's stock performance has been exceptionally strong recently, climbing approximately 53% in April alone. So far in May, it has gained another 24%, bringing its year-to-date increase to 124% and adding roughly $395 billion in market value. Over the past 12 months, the stock has skyrocketed nearly 696%, increasing its market capitalization by over $620 billion. Just in the last three trading sessions, the company added approximately $133 billion to its market cap. Driven by the explosion in AI computing needs, shares of companies related to storage and data infrastructure have broadly risen. Peers such as Western Digital, Seagate Technology, and SanDisk have seen their shares climb about 170%, 180%, and 492% year-to-date, respectively. Analysts note that the surge in data storage requirements from AI applications is making memory chips a critical component of AI infrastructure. However, the AI investment boom is also putting pressure on hard drive and storage supply chains, with capacity constraints becoming increasingly apparent. Analysts at Melius pointed out that memory chips are becoming a core link in the AI industry chain, closely tied to AI chips, hardware, and cloud computing infrastructure. Despite the substantial stock price appreciation, Wall Street generally maintains an optimistic outlook. According to data from FactSet, among the 50 analysts covering the company, the average rating for Micron remains "Buy," with a target price of $583.83.