Semiconductor investors are eagerly awaiting updates from Micron Technology (MU.O) on progress in its artificial intelligence memory business when the company reports earnings after the market closes today.
Wall Street consensus estimates call for Micron to report adjusted earnings per share of $1.76 on revenue of $8.7 billion for the November quarter. Analysts expect revenue of $8.96 billion and adjusted earnings per share of $1.92 for the current quarter, which ends in February.
Micron is a leader in the DRAM (dynamic random access memory) market, which is widely used in desktop computers and servers. In addition, Micron is an important supplier in the flash memory market, which is used in smartphones and solid-state drives. At the same time, Micron has also become a key supplier of HBM (high-bandwidth memory) required for artificial intelligence servers.
In September, Micron management said its HBM business will generate "hundreds of millions of dollars" in revenue in fiscal 2024. The company expects the entire HBM market to grow from about $4 billion in 2023 to more than $25 billion in 2025 as demand for AI servers surges. Any updates to these data will be a focus of shareholders.
Micron shares have risen 27% so far this year to about $108, compared with a 17% gain for the iShares Semiconductor exchange-traded fund (ETF).
On Tuesday, Piper Sandler analyst Harsh Kumar reiterated his "overweight" rating on Micron shares and maintained his $150 price target.
He noted in the report that recent earnings reports from AI chipmakers show that strong demand in the AI field will continue in the short to medium term. "HBM demand continues to remain strong in the short term."
The analyst said investors should not focus too much on short-term weakness in memory chips in the consumer PC market as the overall trend remains positive.
Article forwarded from: Jinshi Data
