Micron Stock Slid on Soft Outlook
Micron stock plummeted despite posting stronger than expected fourth-quarter results as short-term guidance weighed on investor’s sentiments. The chipmaker says coronavirus pandemic has negatively impacted IT spending, which could lower demand in the short-term.
The company also claims that its end markets including smartphones, auto, and the consumer have seen a steady recovery in the past months. The demand for laptops and the cloud grew sharply in the past couple of months due to staying and working at home policies.
Its fourth-quarter revenue of $6.06 billion grew 24% year over year. Its DRAM represented 72% of total revenue in the final quarter last year, with revenue growth of 22% from the previous quarter and a 29% increase from the past year period.
Meanwhile, NAND accounted for 25% of total revenue, but its revenue fell 8% from the last quarter and 27% from the past year quarter.
“Micron delivered solid fiscal fourth-quarter revenue and EPS resulting from strong DRAM sales in cloud, PC and gaming consoles and an extraordinary increase in QLC NAND shipments,” said Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra. “We look forward to improving market conditions throughout calendar 2021, driven by 5G, cloud, and automotive growth, and we are excited by the continued momentum in our product portfolio.”
Moreover, the chipmaker has nearly doubled its earnings from $0.56 to $1.08 per share. Micron plans to cut more operational costs to support margins.
The company expects first-quarter revenue in the range of $5 billion to $5.4 billion and earnings per share around $0.47-0.54, down sharply from the consensus of $0.68 per share.
Micron stock price dropped more than 3% after the earnings announcement. The shares are currently trading around $50, down 7% year to date. Micron stock price is up 15% in the last twelve months. Its stock had hit a 52-weeks high of $60 a share early this year.
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