Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Gap Up on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) shares gapped up before the market opened on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $95.77, but opened at $113.10. Micron Technology shares last traded at $112.21, with a volume of 25,833,613 shares changing hands.

The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.21. Micron Technology had a negative net margin of 7.20% and a negative return on equity of 4.01%. The firm had revenue of $7.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($1.21) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 93.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MU has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on Micron Technology from $165.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Raymond James decreased their target price on Micron Technology from $160.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $140.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and twenty-five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.88.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Micron Technology by 22.2% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 18,243,633 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,150,743,000 after purchasing an additional 3,315,988 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in Micron Technology by 15.1% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 18,303,506 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,157,800,000 after acquiring an additional 2,397,885 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in Micron Technology by 473.8% in the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,649,180 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $348,447,000 after acquiring an additional 2,187,460 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Micron Technology by 301,500.0% in the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,809,600 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $213,334,000 after acquiring an additional 1,809,000 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 28.9% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,566,572 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $892,023,000 after purchasing an additional 1,695,876 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.84% of the company’s stock.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $123.84 billion, a P/E ratio of -79.02, a PEG ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 1.17. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $98.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $114.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 3.41.

About Micron Technology

Micron Technology, Inc designs, develops, manufactures, and sells memory and storage products worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Compute and Networking Business Unit, Mobile Business Unit, Embedded Business Unit, and Storage Business Unit. It provides memory and storage technologies comprising dynamic random access memory semiconductor devices with low latency that provide high-speed data retrieval; non-volatile and re-writeable semiconductor storage devices; and non-volatile re-writable semiconductor memory devices that provide fast read speeds under the Micron and Crucial brands, as well as through private labels.