San Fransisco - Micron Technology, the US’s biggest maker of computer memory, reported sales and profit for the fiscal fourth-quarter that exceeded some analysts’ estimates.
Net income in the period ended September 3. fell to $471 million, or 42 cents a share, from $1.15 billion, or 96 cents, a year earlier. Revenue declined 15 percent to $3.6 billion, the Boise, Idaho-based company said Thursday in a statement. Analysts’ had projected sales of $3.56 billion.
Earnings excluding certain items were 37 cents a share, topping the 33- cent average analysts’ estimate compiled by Bloomberg.
Micron makes chips that provide the short-term memory in computers and servers and other semiconductors that store data in mobile devices.
The company and its competitors - Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix - are producing more than enough chips to meet lackluster demand, causing prices to fall. Investors may use the company’s outlook as a bellwether for reports by larger US and global technology companies later this month.
Micron shares rose as much as 7.7 percent in extended trading. They had earlier fallen 1.4 percent to $14.77 at the close in New York.
Micron is the largest remaining US-based maker of computer memory, also known as dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, chips. The company is expanding its offerings to include memory for smartphones and servers and another type of chips used as storage in mobile devices and computers.
BLOOMBERG