Why Micron Earnings Are So Compelling

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) released fiscal fourth-quarter financial results after markets closed Tuesday. After seeing its stock grow by over 50% so far this year, these earnings are compelling and are clearly signaling this stock is not done rallying yet.

The semiconductor giant said that it had $2.02 in earnings per share (EPS) and $6.14 billion in revenue, compared with consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters that called for $1.84 in EPS and $5.96 billion in revenue. The same period from last year had a net loss of $0.05 per share and $3.22 billion in revenue.

Revenues for the fourth quarter grew 10% versus the third quarter with DRAM sales volumes 5% higher and NAND sales volumes 3% higher. DRAM and NAND average selling prices for the quarter increased 8% and 5%, respectively.

Also overall consolidated gross margin was 50.7% in the quarter which was meaningfully higher than 46.9% in the third quarter due to expansion of margins for DRAM products.

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The company did not give guidance for the coming quarter or year but there are consensus estimates. For the 2018 fiscal year analysts are forecasting $6.46 in EPS and $23.15 billion in revenue. For the fiscal first quarter the consensus estimates are calling for $1.85 in EPS and $6.06 billion in revenue.

On the books, cash and short-term investments totaled $5.43 billion at the end of the quarter, compared with $4.40 billion at the end of the previous fiscal year.

Sanjay Mehrotra, Micron President and CEO, commented:

Micron delivered exceptional fourth quarter and fiscal year results, reflecting solid execution and robust demand for our memory and storage solutions. We expect healthy industry fundamentals to continue into 2018, supported by increasingly diverse end markets and applications. We believe our focus on accelerating the deployment of advanced technologies and solutions will address our customers’ evolving requirements, further strengthen our financial foundation, and enhance shareholder value.

Shares of Micron closed Tuesday down 2% at $34.18, with a consensus analyst price target of $ and a 52-week range of $16.17 to $36.60. Following the release, the stock was initially up 3.7% at $35.46 in the after-hours trading session.

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