Technology

Micron Earnings Not Enough to Break Through the Stock’s Recent Ceiling

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Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) reported its fourth-quarter and full fiscal year 2014 earnings after markets closed Thursday night. The DRAM and chipmaker’s adjusted earnings per share (EPS) came to $0.82 on revenue of $4.23 billion. In the same period a year ago Micron posted EPS of $1.51 on revenues of $2.84 billion. Thomson Reuters was calling for earnings of $0.81 per share on $4.15 billion in revenue.

On a sequential basis, revenue rose 6%. Non-GAAP net income totaled $961 million, up from $913 million in the prior quarter, a much better showing than last quarter, when adjusted earnings were lower sequentially. Micron’s acquisition of Japan’s Elipida Memory out of bankruptcy makes year-over-year comparisons less meaningful than they might otherwise be.

Cash flow from operations rose totaled $5.7 billion for the full year. Micron ended the quarter with cash and short-term investments of $4.53 billion.

The company did not offer guidance, but the consensus estimates for the first quarter call for EPS of $0.85 on revenues of $4.36 billion. For the fiscal year ending in August 2015 the consensus estimates call for EPS of $3.49 on revenues of $17.7 billion.

Micron shares have rallied about 300% since the end of 2012. The stock has also been stuck in a $30 to $34 trading range since June. Thursday’s sell-off of almost 2% was due to a broad market sell-off rather than due to any exact pre-earnings jitters trade.

The Thomson Reuters consensus estimates are looking for a mere 8% sales growth from this current year, and as we noted earlier in the day, growth investors often don’t like to become value investors. When the Elipida acquisition becomes comparable at the end of the second quarter, we could see a sell-off from the growth investors.

Micron shares closed down 1.61% at $31.70 and were trading up about 4.5% in the after-hours session at $33.10. Micron’s 52-week trading range is $16.17 to $34.85. The consensus price target on the stock is around $39.00 before the results were announced.

ALSO READ: Can Micron Keep Up With Earnings in Its Turnaround and Expansion?

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