Memory-chip maker Micron Technology late Wednesday crushed Wall Street's targets for its fiscal second quarter and delivered a surprise profit. It also guided well above views for the current quarter, citing a sales boost from artificial-intelligence infrastructure spending. Micron stock jumped on the news.
The Boise, Idaho-based company earned an adjusted 42 cents a share on sales of $5.82 billion in the quarter ended Feb. 29. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected Micron to lose 25 cents a share on sales of $5.35 billion. In the year-earlier period, Micron lost an adjusted $1.91 a share on sales of $3.69 billion.
For the current quarter, Micron predicted adjusted earnings of 45 cents a share on sales of $6.6 billion. Analysts had been looking for earnings of 9 cents a share on sales of $6 billion in the fiscal third quarter. In the year-earlier period, Micron lost an adjusted $1.43 a share on sales of $3.75 billion.
Heading into its fiscal Q2 report, Micron had posted five straight quarters of losses amid a cyclical downturn.
Micron Stock Surges After Report
In after-hours trading on the stock market today, Micron stock surged more than 13% to 108.90. During the regular session Wednesday, Micron stock rose 2.4% to close at 96.25.
"Micron delivered fiscal Q2 results with revenue, gross margin and EPS (earnings per share) well above the high end of our guidance range — a testament to our team's excellent execution on pricing, products and operations," Chief Executive Sanjay Mehrotra said in a news release.
He added, "Our preeminent product portfolio positions us well to deliver a strong fiscal second half of 2024. We believe Micron is one of the biggest beneficiaries in the semiconductor industry of the multiyear opportunity enabled by AI."
Micron stock has been rising this year on hopes for a recovery in the memory-chip market. In the past 12 months through Wednesday's close, Micron stock was up 65%.
At least five Wall Street firms raised their price targets on Micron stock this week ahead of the company's earnings report.
Micron also is seen benefiting from the AI infrastructure spending boom thanks to its high-bandwidth memory chips, including HBM3e products. Micron competes with Samsung and SK Hynix in selling high-bandwidth memory chips for data centers.
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