Micron's Stock Surges After Profit, Sales Beat Expectations

Shares of Micron Technology Inc. ran up 7.4% in after-hours trade Wednesday, after the memory chip maker reported its first quarterly profit in a year, that beat expectations. Earnings for the quarter to Dec. 1 were $180 million, or 16 cents a share, down from $206 million, or 19 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share came to 32 cents, beating the FactSet consensus of 26 cents. Revenue rose 23% to $3.97 billion from $3.35 billion, the first year-over-year growth in seven quarters and above the FactSet consensus of $3.95 billion. The company said the growth in revenue was primarily a result of an 18% increase and DRAM and a 26% rise in trade NAND sales volumes, and a 5% increase in DRAM average selling prices. "Positive market momentum, driven by favorable demand trends and limited industry supply, produced solid results for our first quarter," said Chief Executive Mark Durcan. The stock had soared 45% year to date through Wednesday's close, while the PHLX Semiconductor Index had climbed 38% and the S&P 500 had gained 11%.