NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA)vs Micron Technology, Inc. (MU)

Quick verdict

Scale is the first thing to settle here. At the 4 September 2026 close NVIDIA carried a market value of about $5,551.7bn against Micron's $1,148.1bn, and on the trailing twelve months to July 2026 NVIDIA turned over $303.0bn of revenue versus Micron's $90.3bn in the twelve months to May 2026 — roughly three times the sales and nearly five times the market value. That gap frames everything: NVIDIA wins growth, quality, balance sheet and income in our scoring, taking an overall 4.5 to 1.5, while Micron takes valuation on every headline multiple. Momentum is too close to call. In short, one is the larger, faster-compounding and more expensive asset; the other is a memory maker priced at a clear discount with margins that, for now, sit surprisingly close behind. The choice is about what you pay for that difference.

At-a-glance comparison

Business model and revenue mix

Both sit in US-listed semiconductors, but at different points in the stack. NVIDIA designs GPUs and accelerated-computing platforms for data-centre AI, gaming, professional visualisation and automotive, a fabless model that produced a 74.67% gross margin and 65.21% operating margin in the twelve months to July 2026. Micron manufactures DRAM and NAND memory and storage chips for data centres, phones, PCs and cars — capital-intensive by nature, yet in the twelve months to May 2026 it recorded a 72.57% gross margin and a 65.63% operating margin, marginally ahead of NVIDIA on the operating line. Both report a genuine operating-income line, so no proxy measure is needed. The structural difference shows in cash conversion instead: NVIDIA generated $127.0bn of free cash flow against Micron's $26.2bn, a gap wider than the revenue gap between them.

Valuation

On price, Micron is the cheaper share on every multiple our data holds. As at 4 September 2026 it traded at 22.98 times trailing earnings against NVIDIA's 29.12, at 12.72 times sales against 18.32, at 11.4 times book against 24.24, and at 16.54 times EV/EBITDA against 27.64. The book-value gap is the widest of the four and reflects how much tangible manufacturing capital sits on Micron's balance sheet. Free cash flow yield, however, is effectively identical at 2.28% for Micron and 2.29% for NVIDIA — the one measure on which the discount disappears. NVIDIA's PEG of 0.14 shows how much of its rating is justified by past growth rates; no PEG is available for Micron, whose three-year earnings CAGR was slightly negative. Our valuation verdict goes to Micron.

Growth profile

Few pairings show a wider gap in trajectory. NVIDIA compounded revenue at 100.05% a year from fiscal 2023 to fiscal 2026 and at 66.9% a year from fiscal 2021, with earnings per share growing at 206.61% annually over the three-year span — extraordinary rates that begin from a far smaller pre-AI base and should not be read as a run rate. Micron's record is the cyclical opposite: revenue compounded 6.71% a year from fiscal 2022 to fiscal 2025 and 11.76% from fiscal 2020, while EPS over the three years to fiscal 2025 was marginally negative at -0.69% a year, against a five-year figure of 26.21%. That divergence between Micron's three- and five-year EPS rates is the memory cycle showing through in the choice of starting year. Growth goes to NVIDIA, decisively.

Profitability and quality

Margins are closer than the growth figures suggest. Micron converted 72.57% of revenue into gross profit and 65.63% into operating profit in the twelve months to May 2026, against NVIDIA's 74.67% and 65.21% in the twelve months to July 2026. The separation appears below the operating line: NVIDIA's net margin of 63.66% sits well above Micron's 55.91%, and on capital returns NVIDIA earned 69.14% on invested capital versus 62.14%, with return on equity of 117.21% against 66.64%. Return on invested capital is the fairer read of the two, since it is less sensitive to leverage and to distributions. In absolute terms NVIDIA posted $192.9bn of net income against Micron's $50.5bn. Our quality verdict favours NVIDIA, though the margin of victory is narrower than the size difference implies.

Balance-sheet risk

Neither company looks stretched, and Micron arguably carries the tidier ledger in one respect: net debt to EBITDA of -0.28 times, meaning its $25.0bn of cash exceeds $5.7bn of total debt. NVIDIA holds $22.4bn of cash against $33.4bn of debt, a net debt to EBITDA of just 0.05 times — immaterial against earnings of that size. Where NVIDIA pulls ahead is liquidity and coverage: a current ratio of 4.59 versus 3.42, and interest cover of 425.82 times against Micron's 257.58 times, both as at their respective balance-sheet dates of July and May 2026. Shareholders' equity stands at $229.0bn for NVIDIA and $100.7bn for Micron. Our balance-sheet verdict goes to NVIDIA on the strength of coverage and current assets, though both positions are conservatively financed.

Price performance and shareholder returns

Income is a minor feature of either case. NVIDIA yielded 0.12% at the 4 September 2026 close, having paid $0.28 per share over the trailing year on a payout ratio of 3.51%, and added a 1% buyback yield. Micron yielded 0.05% from $0.50 per share, a 1.12% payout ratio, with buybacks contributing just 0.06%. On both the dividend and the repurchase line NVIDIA returns more, which is why our income verdict favours it — but a combined shareholder yield near 1.1% is not an income proposition by any normal standard. Both firms are retaining almost everything they earn: NVIDIA reinvested the bulk of $127.0bn of free cash flow, Micron the bulk of $26.2bn. Total return here depends on operational compounding rather than distributions.

Which stock fits which investor

The split is unusually clean. Investors weighing price paid will note Micron's 22.98 times earnings, 11.4 times book and 16.54 times EV/EBITDA, all well below NVIDIA's equivalents, and our value verdict names Micron. Growth, quality and income all point to NVIDIA: 100.05% three-year revenue compounding, 69.14% return on invested capital, and the larger combined dividend and buyback yield. We tag NVIDIA "high-growth, high-quality" and Micron "high-quality" — the latter reflecting Micron's 65.63% operating margin and 62.14% ROIC, which are strong in their own right rather than merely cheap. Momentum is a genuine tie on our scoring, so neither side gets an edge there. Overall, NVIDIA scores 4.5 to Micron's 1.5; the counter-argument rests entirely on the discount Micron trades at.

• Value: MU
• Growth: NVDA
• Income: NVDA
• Quality: NVDA

Frequently asked questions

Which is the bigger company, NVIDIA or Micron?

NVIDIA, by a wide margin. Its market capitalisation was about $5,551.7bn at the 4 September 2026 close against Micron's $1,148.1bn, and it generated $303.0bn of revenue in the twelve months to July 2026 versus Micron's $90.3bn in the twelve months to May 2026 — roughly three times the sales.

Which stock is cheaper on the numbers?

Micron, on every headline multiple as at 4 September 2026: 22.98 times trailing earnings against NVIDIA's 29.12, 12.72 times sales against 18.32, 11.4 times book against 24.24, and 16.54 times EV/EBITDA against 27.64. The exception is free cash flow yield, where the two are effectively level at 2.28% and 2.29%.

Is Micron's profitability really close to NVIDIA's?

On the operating line, yes. Micron's 65.63% operating margin in the twelve months to May 2026 edged NVIDIA's 65.21% in the twelve months to July 2026, and gross margins were 72.57% versus 74.67%. NVIDIA separates below that, with a 63.66% net margin against 55.91% and ROIC of 69.14% versus 62.14%.

Why is Micron's three-year EPS growth negative?

Its EPS compounded at -0.69% a year from fiscal 2022 to fiscal 2025, while the five-year figure from fiscal 2020 was 26.21%. The divergence reflects the memory cycle and the choice of starting year — fiscal 2022 was a materially stronger base than fiscal 2020.

Do either pay a meaningful dividend?

No. NVIDIA yielded 0.12% on a 3.51% payout ratio, paying $0.28 per share over the trailing year; Micron yielded 0.05% on a 1.12% payout from $0.50 per share. Buybacks add 1% at NVIDIA and 0.06% at Micron, so shareholder returns come overwhelmingly from reinvestment.

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