Micron Technology Inc, the largest US maker of computer memory chips, gave a strong sales forecast for the current quarter, bolstered by demand for artificial intelligence (AI) products.
Fiscal third-quarter revenue would be about US$8.8 billion, the company said in a statement on Thursday. That compares with analysts’ average estimate of US$8.55 billion.
Profit would be about US$1.57 a share, excluding certain items, compared with the US$1.48 analysts expected on average.
Photo: Bloomberg
Micron shares, up 22 percent this year through Thursday’s close, jumped about 2 percent in extended trading following the announcement.
Micron is seeing strong demand for components used in data center machines that develop and run artificial intelligence software. Its traditional markets — chips for phones and PCs — have been weaker, but they have been showing signs of a recovery.
Second-quarter sales climbed 38 percent to US$8.05 billion, Boise, Idaho-based Micron said, compared with analysts’ average forecast of US$7.91 billion.
Earnings grew to US$1.56, minus certain items, topping the US$1.43 prediction.
“Data center revenue tripled from a year ago,” Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said in the statement. “We are on track for record revenue and significantly improved profitability in fiscal 2025.”
The company’s high-bandwidth memory has become a vital piece of AI systems.
Revenue from that technology crossed US$1 billion in the second quarter, Micron said, citing “strong execution and robust AI demand.”
One weak spot was the company’s gross margin, the percentage of sales remaining after deducting the cost of production. It was 37.9 percent in the second quarter on an adjusted basis, missing the 38.4 percent estimate. The forecast for the current period, at 36.5 percent, also fell short of predictions.
“We’re expecting that we’ll see margins in the fourth quarter that could be somewhat better, and conditions in the market are improving,” Manish Bhatia, executive vice president of global operations, said in an interview.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors
RSS