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Micron Technology Inc. beat Wall Street forecasts with earnings and a forecast on Wednesday, and the chipmaker also announced the sale of one of its sites to Texas Instruments Inc. Micron MU, +2.47 percent reported net income of $1.74 billion, or $1.52 a share, in the fiscal third quarter, compared to $803 million, or 71 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings per share, which exclude stock-based compensation charges and other things, were $1.88 per share, up from 82 cents per share a year ago. The company’s revenue increased to $7.42 billion from $5.44 billion in the previous quarter.

FactSet polled analysts, who predicted adjusted earnings of $1.72 per share on revenue of $7.23 billion. Micron announced in late May that revenue would be “at or above” $7.3 billion, which was the top end of the guidance it gave at the end of March, which predicted earnings of $1.55 to $1.69 per share. Micron Chief Executive Sanjay Mehrotra said in a statement, “In our third quarter, Micron set many market and product revenue records and generated the highest sequential profitability improvement in our history.” Micron is a memory chip manufacturer that specializes in DRAM and NAND flash memory. DRAM, or dynamic random access memory, is the type of memory used in computers and servers, whereas NAND chips, or flash memory chips, are found in smaller devices such as smartphones and USB drives. Memory chips, like other semiconductors, have been in high demand during the COVID-19 pandemic, and prices have skyrocketed. Read: The semiconductor scarcity is here to stay, but it will have a different impact on chip companies. Micron said DRAM sales accounted for 73 percent of revenue in the fiscal third quarter, or $5.42 billion, up from $3.59 billion the year before, and NAND accounted for 24 percent of revenue, or $1.78 billion, up from $1.67 billion the year before. According to FactSet, analysts projected DRAM sales of $5.25 billion and NAND sales of $1.86 billion. Demand for DRAM is expected to climb by more than 20% this year, with NAND growth in the mid-30% range, according to the business. Micron predicts adjusted net income of $2.20 to $2.40 per share on revenue of $8 billion to $8.4 billion in the fourth quarter. Analysts expected $2.18 per share on $7.88 billion in revenue. Micron announced the sale of its fabrication facilities in Lehi, Utah, to Texas Instruments TXN, -0.30 percent for $1.5 billion in a separate press release. In early 2019, the company paid $1.5 billion for Intel Corp.’s INTC, -1.07 percent 49 percent stake in the joint venture, and revealed its intention to sell the fab earlier this year. When the results were announced, shares of Micron, based in Boise, Idaho, were virtually flat in after-hours trading, after rising 2.5 percent in the regular session to close at $84.89. Micron shares have lost 1.8 percent in the last three months, while the PHLX Semiconductor Index SOX, -0.11 percent has gained over 10%, the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.13 percent has gained nearly 9%, and the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -0.17 percent has gained 11 percent. Micron’s stock closed at $95.59 on April 12, barely shy of its all-time closing high of $96.56 established on July 14, 2000, during the company’s third quarter./nRead More

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