Micron set to report Q4 earnings in latest test of AI trade
Micron (MU) is set to report earnings after the bell — the latest test of the AI trade and a tell of whether the memory chipmaker’s stock can sustain a recent upswing.
Micron is expected to report fiscal fourth quarter revenue of $11.15 billion, up 44% from the year-ago period, according to consensus estimates from analysts polled by Bloomberg. The company is projected to see adjusted earnings per share more than double to $2.84 from $1.18 a year earlier.
The estimates are roughly in line with the improved outlook Micron gave for the quarter in August. Last month, the company projected revenue of $11.2 billion, plus or minus $100 million, and adjusted EPS of $2.85, plus or minus $0.07.
Micron is one of three leading memory chipmakers — its rivals being Korea-based Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and SK Hynix (000660.KS) — and mainly makes two kinds of memory chips.
Its DRAM (dynamic random access memory) chips are used for short-term memory storage in everything from personal computers to AI data centers and historically have accounted for the majority of the company’s revenue. The DRAM market has seen a massive upswing amid a surge of investment in AI infrastructure, growing 83% to $95 billion in 2024, with Micron holding a 35% market share, according to Deutsche Bank analyst Melissa Weathers.
Micron’s HBM (high bandwidth memory) chips — which include multiple DRAM chips stacked vertically — have been particularly crucial to the AI buildout and are used alongside GPUs (graphics processing units) in Nvidia’s (NVDA) AI systems in data centers. Micron’s sales to Nvidia account for 16% of the company’s revenue on an annualized basis, per Bloomberg data.
The company has been one of a number of tech giants to deepen their investments in the US amid pressure from the Trump administration. Micron in June said it will invest $200 billion in its US memory chipmaking facilities.
Wall Street is bullish on the market for HBM and Micron’s role in it as Big Tech raises its capital expenditures, driven by investments in AI data centers. Analysts at firms including TD Cowen, Deutsche Bank, Wedbush, Morgan Stanley, and Citi lifted their price targets earlier this month on Micron shares, going as high as $200. Shares were trading around $166 on Tuesday. Those analysts also cited an improvement in pricing for Micron’s non-HBM products amid a supply shortage.
“We believe the continued memory upturn is being driven by limited production and better than expected demand, particularly from the data center end market,” Citi analyst Chris Danely wrote in a note to investors earlier this month, reiterating his Buy rating on the stock and raising his price target to $175 from $150.
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