Why Micron Earnings Must Be a Home Run

The Thomson Reuters consensus estimates are $0.69 in operating earnings per share (versus only $0.04 a year ago) and the revenues are expected to have risen by 67% to $3.89 billion. The estimates for the coming quarter are $0.77 in per-share earnings and a 42% gain in revenue to $4.05 billion.

If you want to know why expectations are so high, on top of the major stock performance, perhaps the most recent analyst calls will explain. As you will see, the analysts have kept chasing Micron ever higher, and their price targets keep getting more bullish.

• RBC Capital Markets maintained its Outperform rating on June 20 and raised its price target to $38 from $34.
• Raymond James reiterated its Buy rating and raised its price target to $40 from $30.
• R.W. Baird raised its rating to Outperform from Neutral, and the price target was raised to $42 from $25.
• Bank of America Merrill Lynch got back on the Micron bandwagon, raising its rating all the way from an Underperform to Buy, and the price target was raised to $40 from $32 in the call.
• Credit Suisse recently reiterated its Outperform rating, but it jacked its price target all the way up to $50 from $30. That is the street-high target price.
• Goldman Sachs named Micron one of the top holdings of hedge funds.

As a reminder, the increased Intel guidance should have set up a boom scenario for Micron. If businesses are loading up on new PCs, then chances are high that they are buying more and more robust DRAM to go inside them.

As always, investors will be paying attention to new opportunities and the ongoing growth of flash for the company. At $31.81, Micron shares have a 52-week trading range of $12.31 to $32.43, and the consensus price target is $35.33. The company is now worth some $34 billion in its market capitalization.

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