Rising sales jolt Micron shares higher

Semiconductor maker Micron Technologies saw its shares soar in after-market trading on Thursday after it announced its latest quarterly revenues were 58 per cent higher than the same time a year ago.

Micron chief executive Mark Durcan credited the results from the second quarter of its fiscal 2017 to “strong demand and limited industry supply” for its DRAM and NAND memory chips, as well as ongoing cost-cutting efforts. Since the first quarter of the fiscal year, DRAM average selling prices have jumped 21 per cent, while trade NAND sales volumes have risen 18 per cent, the company said.

Revenue for the three-month period ending March 2 were $4.65bn, in line with what analysts surveyed by Bloomberg had expected. Net income attributable to Micron shareholders was $894m, or 77 cents per diluted share, versus the $887.8m profit and 78 cent-per share earnings analysts expected. It is also a marked improvement over the same three-month period last year, when Micron chalked up a net loss of $97m, or 9 cents a share.

Falling manufacturing costs also helped it bring its gross margin up by 11.2 percentage points to 36.7 per cent, compared to the first quarter of FY 2017

Over the past 12 months, Micron shares have zoomed 148.5 per cent higher. After its earnings release, investors sent the company’s stock up nearly 8 per cent in after-hours trading.