American chipmaker Micron announced on the 20th the last quarter’s financial report and this quarter’s financial forecast, both exceeding analysts’ expectations. CEO Merota believes that next year’s product prices will rise, with the uptrend continuing until 2025. Micron aims to return to its peak operational innovation by 2025.
Micron’s outlook is positive, indicating a confirmed rebound in the storage market, with expectations for future performance from other storage manufacturers like Samsung, Powerchip, and Kingston.
Micron’s stock price on the 20th declined by about 4% following the general decline in US tech stocks but surged over 4% after the financial report and outlook were disclosed, rising 7% in early trading on the 21st.
With Micron’s optimistic outlook, market bullish sentiment surged. Despite the decline in Taiwan’s stock market on the 21st, storage manufacturers generally closed higher. Samsung rose by 1.7 points, closing at 75.4 points, up more than 5%; Powerchip and Kingston also rose by over 1%, closing at 28.4 points and 100.5 points, respectively.
Micron’s revenue for the last quarter (ending November 30) was $4.73 billion, surpassing the estimated market revenue of $4.58 billion, a 16% increase year-on-year. Net loss was $1.23 billion, an improvement from the net loss of $1.43 billion in the same period last year, with a net loss per share of $0.95.
Micron anticipates revenue for this quarter to range between $5.1 billion and $5.5 billion, surpassing the estimated market revenue of $5.03 billion, with a narrowed net loss per share of $0.35 to $0.21, better than analysts’ estimated net loss per share of $0.62.
Micron’s forecasted revenue for this quarter exceeds analysts’ expectations, indicating that demand from data centers is helping offset the slow recovery in the PC and smartphone markets.
Memory chip prices are expected to rise next year and further in 2025. Micron reiterates that 2024 will be a year of recovery for the storage industry, aiming to reach record levels by 2025.
Merota expects Micron’s fundamentals to improve in 2024, preparing to leverage the significant opportunities brought by AI in the market.
Micron expects supply for PCs, mobile devices, and other chips to approach normal levels in the first half of next year. Although PC shipments have declined for two consecutive years, they are expected to grow by low to mid-single-digit percentages in 2024, while smartphone demand shows signs of recovery.
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