Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU) stock fell 3.03% (As on September 28, 11:21:46 AM UTC-4, Source: Google Finance) after the company offered weaker-than-expected earnings guidance for the current quarter, indicating that an industry slump is still weighing on the largest US maker of memory chips. Elsewhere, the company posted a narrower-than-expected loss for the fiscal fourth quarter, as well as revenue that came in ahead of expectations. Current-quarter revenue guidance is also higher than analysts anticipated. Investments in capital expenditures, net were $1.01 billion for the fourth quarter of 2023 and $7.01 billion for the full year of 2023, which resulted in adjusted free cash flows of negative $758 million for the fourth quarter of 2023 and negative $5.45 billion for the full year of 2023. Micron ended the year with cash, marketable investments, and restricted cash of $10.52 billion.
Meanwhile, for Micron and its competitors, Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc., 2023 has been a brutal year. Customers in their main markets, personal computers and smartphones have slashed orders as they cope with lackluster demand and stockpiles of excess parts. Wednesday’s report suggests that investor optimism about a rebound in profitability may be premature. The burden of excess inventory has now lifted and Micron’s customers, apart from those who make data center servers, are now ordering at levels that reflect demand for their products. Prices for Micron’s products are going up, and the rate of the price jump is increasing
MU in the fourth quarter of FY 23 has reported the adjusted loss per share of $1.07, beating the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted loss per share of $1.18, according to Zacks Investment Research. The company had reported 40 percent decline in the adjusted revenue of $4.01 billion in the fourth quarter of FY 23, beating the analysts’ estimates for revenue of $3.91 billion.
Additionally, the company has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.115 per share, payable in cash on October 25, 2023, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on October 10, 2023.
Micron said to expect a loss of $1.07 per share, while analysts polled by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv, expected 95 cents. The company expects revenue to be in the range of $4.2 billion to $4.6 billion for the fiscal first quarter. Analysts surveyed by Zacks had expected revenue of $6.12 billion. Micron expects the industry outlook to brighten considerably by 2025, especially as artificial intelligence systems demand new types of more expensive memory chips.