By Carly Forster
Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) is a Boise, Idaho technology company best known for producing many forms of semiconductor devices, including DRAM, SDRAM, flash memory, and SSDs. The company released its fourth quarter report on Thursday, September 25th and its results were better than analysts expected. Correspondingly, shares of Micron jumped around 4% in after-hours trading.
During its Q4 results, Micron reported $1.15 billion net income or $0.96 earnings per share on a GAAP basis, compared to net income of $806 million, or $0.68 per diluted share, for the third quarter of fiscal 2014. During the same quarter last year, Micron posted $1.51 earnings per share. The company had revenue of $4.23 billion for the quarter. The software giant’s revenue for the quarter was up 48.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Micron will post $3.50 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The reason fourth quarter of fiscal 2013 was higher than fourth quarter of fiscal 2014 is because of accounting gains related to the acquisition of Elpida Memory, Inc. and Rexchip Electronics Corporation. The company is still proud of its fourth quarter fiscal 2014 numbers despite being lower than the year prior. “We are pleased with the company’s performance that resulted in record revenue and earnings for the year,” said CEO Mark Durcan. “Continued favorable market conditions and steady execution led to increases in sales volumes and another quarter of strong operating margins and earnings per share.”
Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) opened at $33.97 on Friday, September 26th. The technology company has a 1-year high of $34.85 and a 1-year low of $16.17. The stock’s daily moving average is $33.76 and had a 50-day moving average of $31.85. The market cap for Micron Technology is $36.13 billion and its P/E ratio is 13.32.
On September 26th Jeffries & Co analyst Sundeep Bajikar reiterated a Buy rating on Micron and raised his price target from $40 to $42. He reasoned, “Strong CQ4 guidance is likely to increase the probability of ~$4 EPS power in investors’ minds, and help closet bears embrace permanent DRAM industry changes with less fear.” Bajikar currently has an 81% success rate recommending stocks, earning a +37.4% average return per recommendation. He has rated Micron a total of 15 times, earning an 80% success rate recommending the stock.
On the other hand, Wells Fargo analyst David Wong reiterated an Underperform rating on the same day, but raised his valuation range from $19- $24 to $22-$28. He explained, “We remain concerned that DRAM prices could correct downward at some point in the future, and we remain cautious on Micron’s stock.” Wong currently has a 66% success rate recommending stocks, earning a +10.6% average return per recommendation. However, he has rated Micron a total of 13 times, earning a 42% success rate recommending the stock.
On average, the top analyst consensus for Micron Technology is Moderate Buy.
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Carly Forster writes about stock market news. She can be reached at [email protected]
