What happened
Shares of Micron Technology (MU 3.78%) climbed 4.8% on Thursday, following the chipmaker's fiscal second-quarter results.
So what
More industries are adopting advanced technologies that require more memory chips, and Micron is the market leader. Its Q2 revenue, in turn, jumped 30% year over year to $6.24 billion.
"Our technology leadership in both DRAM and NAND places Micron in an excellent position to capitalize on the secular demand driven by AI and 5G, and to deliver new levels of user experience and innovation across the data center and intelligent edge," CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said in a press release.
Micron's sales and profits are surging. Image source: Getty Images.
Meanwhile, a global semiconductor shortage is strengthening chipmakers' ability to charge higher prices, thereby helping to expand their profit margins. Combined with its strong sales performance, these industry dynamics helped Micron's earnings per share soar 47% to $0.53 in the second quarter.
Now what
Investors were also apparently intrigued by a report from The Wall Street Journal that claimed Micron is considering an acquisition of Kioxia. The deal could reportedly value the Japanese chipmaker for as much as $30 billion.
Kioxia makes NAND flash-memory chips used in mobile devices and computer servers -- areas that have enjoyed accelerated growth during the coronavirus pandemic, as more people have shifted to remote work and businesses have migrated their operations to the cloud. Acquiring Kioxia could bolster Micron's competitive position in these booming markets.
However, the Journal noted that a deal is not guaranteed to materialize and would require approval from Japan's government.
