What happened
Shares of Micron Technology (MU 3.06%) rose 23% in September 2017, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The memory chip maker had already been rising 12% in the first three weeks of the month on strong chip prices and healthy industry rumblings. A stunning fourth-quarter report locked in those gains near the end of September, and share prices surged another 8% higher as investors digested that report.
So what
Micron absolutely crushed Wall Street's estimates in the fourth quarter. Revenues nearly doubled year over year to $6.14 billion, while the bottom line swung from a small loss to adjusted earnings of $2.02 per share. Analysts would have settled for earnings of $1.84 per share on sales near $5.96 billion.
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Now what
The company is enjoying strong demand across the board, led by mobile devices and cloud computing. Solid-state storage devices provide another strong growth avenue, from both the enterprise and consumer sides of the data storage market. Chip prices often plunge quickly after a short period of strong supply-and-demand conditions like the current situation, but market checks have shown no signs of an upcoming crash so far. Market leaders, including Micron, are not chasing huge production volumes that could lock in big short-term profits but also undermine the pricing trend in the long run.
This rosy market environment around Micron may fall apart at a moment's notice, but there are no huge corrections on the horizon today. That's why the stock has been able to soar 130% higher over the last 52 weeks, supported by strong business trends.
