Micron stock pops on earnings blowout as AI memory demand soars

Micron stock pops on earnings blowout as AI memory demand soars


The Micron logo is seen displayed at the 8th China International Import Expo.

Sheldon Cooper | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Micron Technology‘s stock jumped 10% after the company signaled robust demand for its memory chips and blew away fiscal first-quarter estimates.

During an earnings call with analysts, Micron, which makes memory storage used for computers and artificial intelligence servers, said rapid AI infrastructure scaling has fueled greater demand for its products.

Micron said it expects the total addressable market for high-bandwidth memory to hit $100 billion by 2028, growing at a 40% compounded annual growth rate.

Management also upped its capital expenditures guidance to $20 billion from $18 billion and guided to 68% gross margins as memory prices rise and the company passes on costs to customers.

“We are more than sold out,” said business chief Sumit Sadana. “We have a significant amount of unmet demand in our models and this is just consistent with an environment where the demand is substantially higher than supply for the foreseeable future.

Micron topped Wall Street estimates for the fiscal first quarter and issued blowout guidance.

The company reported adjusted earnings of $4.78 per share on $13.64 billion in revenue, surpassing LSEG estimates for earnings of $3.95 per share and $12.84 billion in sales.

Revenues in the current quarter are expected to hit about $18.70 billion, blowing past the $14.20 billion expected by LSEG. Adjusted earnings are forecast to reach $8.42, versus expectations of $4.78 per share.

JPMorgan upped its price target on the stock following the results, citing the favorable pricing setup, while Bank of America upgraded shares to a buy rating.

Morgan Stanley called the results the best revenue and net income upside in the “history of the U.S. semis industry” outside of Nvidia.

“If AI keeps growing as we expect, we believe that the next 12 months are going to have broader coat tails to the AI trade than just the processor names and memory would be the biggest beneficiary,” analysts wrote.

WATCH: Micron shares spike on better-than-expected quarterly results

Micron shares spike on better-than-expected quarterly results
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Micron year-to-date stock chart.