Micron Posts Quarterly Profit, Eyes Tight DRAM Supply
Micron Technology posted a fiscal fourth-quarter net profit on Thursday. At the same time, memory chip supplies are expected to be constrained following a recent fire at a SK Hynix factory.
Micron reported a net profit of $1.71 billion, compared to a net loss of $243 million in the year-ago quarter.
The chipmaker had fourth-quarter revenue of $2.843 billion, up from $1.963 billion in the year-ago quarter.
After a memory chip price slump last year that led some chipmakers to throttle back production, prices for DRAM and NAND chips made by Micron, Samsung Electronics nd SK Hynix have increased this year. Prices for DRAM chips have jumped more than 35 percent since a fire in September damaged a memory chip plant in China owned by SK Hynix.
"Overall the DRAM market remains tight. Given growing demand in the specialty markets and undersupply in the PC DRAM business, and the impact on supplies in the (Hynix) accident, inventories appear extremely low," Micron President Mark Adams said on a conference call with analysts.
Micron expects DRAM memory chip average selling prices to rise by 5 to 7 percent in its fiscal first quarter. The company also expects NAND average selling prices to decline by about 8 or 9 percent in its first quarter as Micron moves to higher-density products on new manufacturing nodes.
Micron's quarterly results included Elpida Memory following the close of its acquisition of the Japanese company in July.
NAND chips are used in mobile devices as well as in solid state drives (SSD).
The chipmaker had fourth-quarter revenue of $2.843 billion, up from $1.963 billion in the year-ago quarter.
After a memory chip price slump last year that led some chipmakers to throttle back production, prices for DRAM and NAND chips made by Micron, Samsung Electronics nd SK Hynix have increased this year. Prices for DRAM chips have jumped more than 35 percent since a fire in September damaged a memory chip plant in China owned by SK Hynix.
"Overall the DRAM market remains tight. Given growing demand in the specialty markets and undersupply in the PC DRAM business, and the impact on supplies in the (Hynix) accident, inventories appear extremely low," Micron President Mark Adams said on a conference call with analysts.
Micron expects DRAM memory chip average selling prices to rise by 5 to 7 percent in its fiscal first quarter. The company also expects NAND average selling prices to decline by about 8 or 9 percent in its first quarter as Micron moves to higher-density products on new manufacturing nodes.
Micron's quarterly results included Elpida Memory following the close of its acquisition of the Japanese company in July.
NAND chips are used in mobile devices as well as in solid state drives (SSD).
