Micron Technology (MU) stock is soaring Thursday after the memory chipmaker beat top- and bottom-line expectations for its fiscal fourth quarter and provided an outlook that is higher than Wall Street anticipates.
In the quarter ended August 29, Micron's revenue increased 93.3% year-over-year to $7.75 billion. Its earnings per share (EPS) came in at $1.18 compared with a loss of $1.07 in the year-ago period.
Micron's sizzling year-over-year revenue growth came "as robust artificial intelligence (AI) demand drove a strong ramp of our data center DRAM products and our industry-leading high bandwidth memory," said Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra in a statement. "Our NAND revenue record was led by data center SSD sales, which exceeded $1 billion in quarterly revenue for the first time."
Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
The results came in ahead of analysts' expectations. Wall Street was anticipating revenue of $7.66 billion and earnings of $1.11 per share, according to Yahoo Finance.
For its first quarter of the new fiscal year, Micron is expecting revenue of $8.7 billion, plus or minus $200 million, and earnings of $1.74 per share, plus or minus 8 cents, both of which are ahead of analysts' forecasts for revenue of $8.3 billion and earnings of $1.64 per share.
"We are entering fiscal 2025 with the best competitive positioning in Micron's history," Mehrotra said. "We forecast record revenue in fiscal Q1 and a substantial revenue record with significantly improved profitability in fiscal 2025."
Is Micron stock a buy, sell or hold?
Micron is one of the best stocks on Wall Street today, but shares have been outperforming the broader market for most of the year. And Wall Street thinks the chipmaker has more room to run.
According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, the average analyst target price for MU stock is $146.81, representing implied upside of more than 30% to current levels. Additionally, the consensus recommendation is a Strong Buy.
Financial services firm Needham is one of those with a Buy rating on the semiconductor stock, along with a $140 price target.
"We expect MU to benefit from the recovery in the memory cycle in calendar year 2024 after the worst supply-demand imbalance in thirteen years," says Needham analyst Quinn Bolton. "Long term, we view MU as a key beneficiary of strong data center demand – both AI and machine learning (ML) – automotive semi content, graphics, and industrial automation."
Related Content
-
Three Things to Know About New Medicaid Cuts: Is Your Local Hospital Closing Soon?Tax Policy Trump’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ is now law, and rural hospitals across the U.S. are on the chopping block.
-
Dividend Increases: 7 Stocks With Rising PayoutsWhile dividend growth has been slowing, certain stocks have raised their dividend payouts. These are some selections.
-
Dividend Increases: 7 Stocks With Rising Payouts
While dividend growth has been slowing, certain stocks have raised their dividend payouts. These are some selections.
-
Key to Financial Peace of Mind: Think 'What's Next?' Rather Than 'What If?'Even if you've hit your magic number for retirement, it's hard to stop worrying about money. Giving it a clear purpose is one way to reduce financial anxiety.
-
Three Estate Planning Documents a Business Owner Can't Afford to SkipA business owner's estate plan should protect the company and its employees as well as the entrepreneur's heirs. These three documents are critical.
-
Stock Market Today: Trump's Copper Comments Cause a StirMarkets remain resilient and monetary policy makers stand fast against a rising tide of new terms of trade, including around copper.
-
Opportunity Zones: An Expert Guide to the Changes in the One Big Beautiful BillThe law makes opportunity zones permanent, creates enhanced tax benefits for rural investments and opens up new strategies for investors to combine community development with significant tax advantages.
-
Five Ways Retirees Can Keep Perspective Through Market JittersMarket volatility is a recurring event with historical precedents (the dot-com bubble, global financial crisis and pandemic), each followed by recovery. Here's how people who are near or in retirement can navigate economic uncertainty.
-
Stock Market Today: Trump Reextends His Tariff DeadlineWhen it comes to this president, his trade war, the economy, financial markets and uncertainty, "known unknowns" are better than "unknown unknowns."
-
Should You Start a 'Trump Account' for Your Child?"Trump Accounts" for kids is part of the One Big, Beautiful Bill that was just signed. Look at if it's worth it for your children.
