What happened
Shares of Micron Technology (MU 0.35%) rose 12.7% in October, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The month started off on a blast of positive momentum -- Micron shares had gained 34% in two months when October rolled around -- but the deal was truly sealed when fellow memory chip giant Samsung (NASDAQOTH: SSNLF) reported earnings.
So what
Samsung's management said that supply should remain tight in the NAND memory market for the foreseeable future, which is great news for price-sensitive NAND suppliers like Micron. The next day, share prices skyrocketed 9% higher. Samsung's memory market comments also dovetailed neatly with Micron's own projections.
Image source: Micron Technology.
Now what
Micron keeps delivering stellar earnings reports, powered by stable street prices for memory chips in an age of rising demand for computing tools and ever-improving manufacturing processes. Trailing top-line sales have nearly doubled over the last year and nearly half of those torrential revenue streams are converting straight into EBITDA profits.
And as Samsung's and Micron's executive teams are saying, there's no credible end in sight to these favorable market conditions. It's not like 2012, when the bottom dropped out of the memory market's last temporary pricing stability and Micron's business suffered for years. The industry is different now, more mature and consolidated down to just a handful of strong suppliers -- and Micron is one of the survivors.
The stock has gained a breathtaking 157% in 52 weeks, but Micron shares still trade at bargain-basement multiples: 10 times trailing earnings and 6.5 times forward estimates. That's just silly. I'm holding on to my Micron shares with both hands and a tube of super glue. There's more of that market momentum on tap, perhaps for years to come.
