Micron's Q4 earnings surpass Wall Street's expectations in latest test of AI trade

[ad_1] Micron (MU) reported fiscal fourth quarter earnings outcomes after the bell Tuesday that surpassed Wall Avenue's expectations — a constructive sign for the AI commerce and for traders hoping the chipmaker's inventory can maintain its current upswing.

Micron's fiscal fourth quarter income of $11.3 billion was forward of the $11.15 billion anticipated by analysts polled by Bloomberg. The Idaho-based reminiscence chipmaker — whose semiconductors are used alongside Nvidia's chips in AI knowledge facilities — noticed adjusted earnings per share of $3.03 for the three months ending Aug. 28, greater than the $2.84 projected.

Micron's efficiency additionally surpassed its boosted outlook for the quarter offered in August.

The beat was fueled by the AI knowledge heart growth, firm executives stated, with knowledge facilities representing 40% of the chipmaker's complete income within the fourth quarter.

The inventory briefly climbed 2% following the leads to after-hours buying and selling to hit $171.50, above its all-time intraday excessive final week, however later pared positive factors.

Micron's steerage for its 2026 fiscal first quarter was additionally above expectations. The corporate guided for first quarter income between $12.2 billion and $12.8 billion, greater than the $11.9 billion anticipated by analysts tracked by Bloomberg. The chipmaker stated it expects first quarter adjusted earnings per share to fall between $3.60 and $3.90, forward of the $3.05 projected.

"Over the approaching years, we anticipate trillions of {dollars} to be invested in AI, and a good portion can be spent on reminiscence," CEO Sanjay Mehrotra stated in a name with analysts following the corporate's outcomes. "As the one US-based producer of reminiscence, Micron is uniquely positioned to profit from the AI alternative forward.”

Micron has been one in all various tech giants deepening investments within the US amid stress from the Trump administration. The agency in June stated it'll make investments $200 billion in its US reminiscence chipmaking amenities.

The corporate is one in all three main reminiscence chipmakers. Its rivals are Korea-based SK Hynix (000660.KS) and Samsung Electronics (005930.KS), however the latter has fallen behind within the AI race.

Micron's DRAM (dynamic random entry reminiscence) chips are used for short-term reminiscence storage in every part from private computer systems to AI knowledge facilities and traditionally have accounted for almost all of the corporate's income.

One type of Micron's DRAM tech, its HBM (excessive bandwidth reminiscence) chips, which embody a number of vertically stacked DRAM semiconductors, have been essential to the AI buildout and are used alongside GPUs (graphics processing models) in Nvidia's (NVDA) AI methods for knowledge facilities.

The mixed wave of AI demand from Nvidia — which accounts for 16% of Micron's income on an annualized foundation, per Bloomberg knowledge — and Samsung's laggard efficiency within the area have propelled Micron to new prominence.

Micron shares have jumped roughly 97% this 12 months, a lot larger than the 18% common achieve throughout the so-called Magnificent Seven Huge Tech shares. However considerations have just lately intensified that AI-fueled tech shares are in bubble, and analysts have debated whether or not Micron's inventory rally has extra room to run.

"We consider that Micron is without doubt one of the largest beneficiaries within the semiconductor business of the secular development pushed by AI," Micron's chief enterprise officer Sumit Sadana advised Yahoo Finance.

The DRAM market has seen a large upswing amid a surge of funding in AI infrastructure, rising 83% to $95 billion in 2024, with Micron holding a 35% market share, in line with Deutsche Financial institution analyst Melissa Weathers.

And Micron's DRAM phase drove the chipmaker's income beat Tuesday, with income from these chips leaping practically 70% from the earlier 12 months to hit $8.98 billion within the fourth quarter, above the $8.55 billion projected by analysts.

In the meantime, income from Micron's NAND chips fell beneath expectations, sinking roughly 5% from the year-ago interval to $2.25 billion, lower than the $2.35 billion forecast by analysts. Micron's NAND reminiscence chips retailer knowledge long-term in knowledge facilities and client gadgets similar to smartphones.

However Sadana stated he expects NAND demand to select up within the firm's 2026 fiscal 12 months: "AI has been an enormous driver of DRAM, however AI additionally makes use of NAND in a reasonably vital approach."

"So we're beginning to see [an] elevated stage of purchases from knowledge heart prospects of NAND as effectively," he added, "And that's beginning to enhance the basics of the NAND business additionally."

Micron Know-how headquarters. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Photographs) · Justin Sullivan through Getty Photographs Laura Bratton is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Observe her on Bluesky @laurabratton.bsky.social. E-mail her at laura.bratton@yahooinc.com.