Micron Shares Jump As Demand For Memory Chips Leads To Earnings Beat

Micron Technology Inc. gained more than 7% in late trading Thursday after the chip maker reported better earnings than expected amid reported price hikes for its memory chips. The company reported fiscal second-quarter profit of $894 million, or 77 cents a share, on sales of $4.65 billion. After adjusting for stock-based compensation and other effects, the company claimed earnings of 90 cents a share. Analysts polled by FactSet expected on average for Micron to report adjusted earnings of 83 cents a share on sales of $4.64 billion. Tech giants have said that increased prices for memory chips squeezed their margins at the end of 2016, a trend that has benefited Micron. "Strong demand and limited industry supply for NAND and DRAM solutions, combined with significant progress on our cost reduction plan, produced excellent results for our second quarter," Micron Chief Executive Mark Furcan, who announced retirement plans last month, said in Thursday's announcement. Micron shares topped $28 in after-hours trading Thursday, after closing with a 1.6% increase at $26.47.