"Buying the dip after a 30% plunge?"... Trump's account sells chip stocks, loads up on 'this company'

More than 500 trades made in an account in Trump's name in August
Micron shares sold, large purchases of Meta shares

Shares of artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor company Micron Technology were sold, while a large number of shares in Meta, the parent company of Facebook, were purchased through an investment account in the name of U.S. President Donald Trump.

U.S. investment news outlet The Motley Fool reported on October 18, citing financial disclosure records from the U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE), that more than 500 securities transactions were made in August through an account in President Trump's name. However, the account is managed by an outside financial institution, and President Trump did not personally select or trade the stocks.

U.S. President Donald Trump. White House

According to the disclosed records, a net 251,000 to 515,000 dollars' worth of Micron shares were sold through President Trump's account in August. By contrast, a net 5.1 million to 25.3 million dollars' worth of Meta shares were purchased, making Meta the stock bought in the largest amount during the same period.

Micron Shares Sold Despite Memory Boom...Concerns Over Industry Slowdown

Micron, a U.S. semiconductor company that produces memory and data storage devices based on DRAM and NAND flash, has benefited from a shortage of memory chips driven by the growth of the AI industry. However, it ranks third in market share behind Samsung Electronics and SK hynix in the DRAM, HBM and NAND markets. Some analysts also say that the nature of the memory chip market makes it difficult to maintain a sustained competitive advantage.

William Kerwin, an analyst at U.S. investment research firm Morningstar, said, "We do not believe Micron has an economic moat (a competitive advantage that rivals cannot easily replicate)," adding that "DRAM and NAND are closer to commodity products, whose prices tend to decline over time and are sensitive to supply and demand."

Reuters-Yonhap News

Kerwin nevertheless forecast that the growth of the AI industry would be a powerful growth driver for Micron in the medium term. Micron's recent results have also shown rapid growth. Revenue in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026, which ended in September, was 54 billion dollars, up 379% from the same period a year earlier. The increase was driven by revenue growth across all business segments. Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share (EPS) were 33.42 dollars, about 11 times the 3.03 dollars recorded in the same period last year.

As investment in AI infrastructure continues, demand is also expected to grow for memory used in GPUs, servers and data storage devices.

The Motley Fool analyzed that the sale of Micron shares from the account in President Trump's name may have reflected "the possibility that prices and company earnings could fall after the shortage of memory chips eases." It also noted that Micron's price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) is about 12, which could make the stock appear undervalued based on current earnings, but that company profits have fallen sharply in the past when the semiconductor industry entered a downturn.

Reuters-Yonhap News

Net Purchases of Up to $25.3 Million in Meta Shares...Investors Watch Returns on AI Investment

By contrast, Meta was the stock bought in the largest amount through President Trump's account during the same period. Meta is a global social media company that operates Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram. It uses data collected from users on these platforms for content recommendations and targeted advertising. As the number of users grows, the platforms become more useful and influential, creating a network effect.

Meta's second-quarter results this year were mixed. Revenue reached 60.8 billion dollars, up 28% from a year earlier, driven by an increase in both ad impressions and advertising rates. However, GAAP diluted earnings per share fell 13% to 6.18 dollars, affected by legal expenses and costs related to employee departures. Net income also fell short of market expectations.

Analysts say that investment in areas such as in-house semiconductors and AI model development is improving the company's advertising results. The introduction of AI technology has increased both the number of ad impressions and advertising rates.

Meta recently also unveiled Muse, an AI agent designed to automate tasks for businesses and individual users. Morgan Stanley analysts said Meta is well positioned in the consumer AI agent market, thanks to the vast amount of data it holds.

The Motley Fool cited Meta's relatively lower share price as a reason for the large purchase. In August, Meta shares fell about 30% from their peak as investors sold the stock over concerns about excessive spending in the AI sector. The shares have since partly rebounded, but analysts say they remain attractive to investors.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.