Micron Reports Strong Quarterly Results Amid AI-Driven Demand Surge
Quick Look
- Micron reported better-than-expected quarterly results with $33.42 adjusted EPS and $54.23 billion revenue, driven by soaring AI infrastructure demand.
- The company forecasts $61.5 billion revenue and $38.15 EPS for the next quarter, while investing $250 billion in new HBM campuses in New York and Idaho.
- Micron is the only U.S.-based maker of high-bandwidth memory, and its stock has risen over 500% in the past year amid a global supply crunch.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Micron is benefiting from surging demand for memory chips driven by AI infrastructure expansion, which has created a global supply crunch and pushed up prices for consumer electronics.
Micron reported better-than-expected quarterly results on Wednesday as the memory maker continues to benefit from soaring demand for AI infrastructure. The stock rose slightly in extended trading.
Here's how the company did relative to LSEG consensus:
Earnings per share: $33.42 adjusted vs. $31.61 expected
Revenue: $54.23 billion vs. $51.07 billion expected
Revenue almost quadrupled in the fiscal fourth quarter from $11.32 billion a year earlier, according to a statement.
For the fiscal first quarter, Micron said it expects revenue of about $61.5 billion and adjusted earnings per share of $38.15. Analysts polled by LSEG had expected $35.40 in adjusted earnings per share on $57 billion in revenue.
Micron's stock has soared more than 500% in the past year, benefiting from a worldwide supply crunch caused by historic levels of demand for memory chips needed for artificial intelligence models and workloads. The shortage has led to a spike in memory costs and resulted in increased prices for consumer electronics like Apple's iPads and MacBooks.
Micron is the only U.S.-based maker of high-bandwidth memory, HBM, made up of stacks of general-purpose dynamic random-access memory, or DRAM.
Net income in the latest quarter climbed to $37.7 billion, or $32.87 per share, from $3.2 billion, or $2.83 per share a year ago.
Advanced graphics and central processors from chip giants like Nvidia and AMD need increasing amounts of HBM to handle AI workloads, and the world's leading providers can't make enough.
That's why Micron is investing $250 billion to build two new campuses for making HBM. The largest broke ground in Clay, New York, in January, while its first new fab in Boise, Idaho, is scheduled to come online next year.
HBM leaders SK Hynix and Samsung are also in the midst of massive new HBM factory buildouts in their home country of South Korea. Micron holds the smallest HBM market share of the three, but its market cap has still topped $1.2 trillion.
Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrota participated in a summit on AI regulation hosted by President Donald Trump on Tuesday, days after attending a White House dinner with Chinese President Xi Jinping on his first visit to the U.S. in more than a decade.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Micron will begin production at its new Boise, Idaho HBM fab next year
Likely · Within months
Micron's revenue and earnings will continue to exceed analyst expectations in the near term
Likely
Open Questions
- How will Micron's $250 billion investment be financed?
- What specific timeline applies to the Boise, Idaho fab coming online?
- How will U.S.-China tech tensions affect Micron's access to Chinese markets?
