Micron beats on earnings and issues strong guidance as data center revenue jumps 11-fold
Micron reported better-than-expected quarterly results on Wednesday as the memory maker continues to benefit from soaring demand for AI infrastructure. The stock rose slightly in extended trading.
Here's how the company did relative to LSEG consensus:
- Earnings per share: $33.42 adjusted vs. $31.61 expected
- Revenue: $54.23 billion vs. $51.07 billion expected
Revenue almost quadrupled in the fiscal fourth quarter from $11.32 billion a year earlier, according to a statement.
For the fiscal first quarter, Micron said it expects revenue of about $61.5 billion and adjusted earnings per share of $38.15. Analysts polled by LSEG had expected $35.40 in adjusted earnings per share on $57 billion in revenue.
Micron's stock has soared more than 500% in the past year, benefiting from a worldwide supply crunch caused by historic levels of demand for memory chips needed for artificial intelligence models and workloads. The shortage has led to a spike in memory costs and resulted in increased prices for consumer electronics like Apple's iPads and MacBooks.
Hendi Susanto, portfolio at Gabelli Funds, said in an email after the release that it was "another strong beat and raise for Micron."
"At this point, I have not heard any negative data points pointing to the memory cycle reversing toward a decline anytime soon for the foreseeable future," Susanto wrote.
Micron is the only U.S.-based maker of high-bandwidth memory, HBM, made up of stacks of general-purpose dynamic random-access memory, or DRAM. Fourth-quarter DRAM revenue increased 343% from a year ago to $39.8 billion, representing 73% of total sales.
CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said on the earnings call that the company has a "strong roadmap for future HBM products" and is working with Nvidia on the industry's "first custom HBM implementation."
Net income in the latest quarter climbed to $37.7 billion, or $32.87 per share, from $3.2 billion, or $2.83 per share a year ago.
Advanced graphics and central processors from chip giants like Nvidia and AMD need increasing amounts of HBM to handle AI workloads, and the world's leading providers can't make enough.
That's why Micron is investing $250 billion to build two new campuses for making HBM. The largest broke ground in Clay, New York, in January, while its first new fab in Boise, Idaho, is scheduled to come online next year.
HBM leaders SK Hynix and Samsung are also in the midst of massive new HBM factory buildouts in their home country of South Korea. Micron holds the smallest HBM market share of the three, but its market cap has still topped $1.2 trillion.
Mehrotra participated in a summit on AI regulation hosted by President Donald Trump on Tuesday, days after attending a White House dinner with Chinese President Xi Jinping on his first visit to the U.S. in more than a decade.
On the call, Mehrotra said Micron increased compensation for every employee in fiscal 2026. Hundreds of Micron staffers threatened to strike at its factories in Taiwan over labor negotiations and pay. Similar strikes at rivals SK Hynix and Samsung have result in bonuses upwards of $500,000.
WATCH: Micron's $50 billion buildout in its hometown of Boise is minting millionaires
