Micron Surpasses Earnings Expectations and Forecasts Strong Revenue Growth Amid AI Boom

Micron Technology's shares climbed in extended trading on Wednesday following the company's better-than-expected earnings and revenue report, along with a strong forecast for the upcoming fiscal quarter. Here's a breakdown of the results compared to the LSEG consensus: Earnings per Share (EPS): $1.91, adjusted, versus the $1.60 that was expected. Revenue: $9.3 billion, exceeding the anticipated $8.87 billion. Micron also projected revenue of approximately $10.7 billion for the current period, its fiscal fourth quarter, marking a 38% increase from the $7.75 billion reported in the same quarter last year. This forecast surpassed the average analyst estimate of $9.9 billion, according to LSEG. In the third quarter, Micron's data center revenue more than doubled, driven by a significant rise in demand for high bandwidth memory (HBM). This surge is attributed to the ongoing Artificial Intelligence (AI) boom, which requires vast amounts of memory and processing power. CEO Sanjay Mehrotra commented in the earnings release, emphasizing the company's strategic focus: "Micron is making disciplined investments to build on our technology leadership and manufacturing excellence to satisfy growing AI-driven memory demand." Prior to the earnings announcement, Micron's stock had already experienced a strong year, gaining 51% as of Wednesday's close, while the Nasdaq saw a modest 3.4% gain over the same period. Additionally, Micron is making significant strides in market share, particularly against Samsung, one of its main competitors. The company’s robust performance and forward-looking investments position it well to capitalize on the expanding AI market.