Micron Drops on Soft Results

Shares of memory chip maker Micron (NASDAQ:MU) retreated sharply Friday in response to the tech companys surprisingly gloomy quarterly results.

Analysts on Wall Street responded to Microns weaker-than-expected results by quickly slashing their price targets on the stock.

Reporting after Thursdays closing bell, the Boise-based maker of dynamic random access memory chips said it earned $75 million, or 7 cents a share, compared with $939 million, or 92 cents a share, a year earlier. Analysts had been calling for much more robust EPS of 16 cents.

Sales slid 6.5% to $2.14 billion, trailing the Streets view of $2.36 billion. Gross margins shrank to 22.3% from 37.1%.

We've all seen a softening of the desktop and notebook PC climate, partially offset by some growth around tablets," Mark Adams, the companys vice president of worldwide sales, said on a conference call. "At this point, it's hard for us to call too much further out in the future."

Wall Street expressed concern with the results, driving Microns stock 9.62% lower to $7.61 Friday morning, leaving it up just 5% on the year.

A slew of brokerages also issued negative notes on the stock, including Macquarie, which slashed its target to $7.50 from $11.20 but maintained a neutral rating.

Lazard and ThinkEquity both lowered their target prices to $12 from $15 while keeping buy recommendations.