Micron's quarterly revenue is nearly five times what it was a year ago

Micron

Micron reported its fourth quarter after Wednesday's close. Revenue was US$54.23 billion against the US$51.07 billion analysts expected, and adjusted earnings came in at US$33.42 a share. The shares had finished the session barely changed at US$1,065.11.

So how much of that is profit? Micron kept 87 cents of every sales dollar after paying to make the chips. Memory has spent most of its history as a commodity business where nobody keeps anything close to that.

The comparison is what makes it strange. The same quarter a year earlier brought in US$11.32 billion. Full-year revenue was US$133.19 billion against US$37.38 billion, and operating cash flow was US$89.68 billion.

Chart: Micron took in US$54.2bn in its fourth quarter, against US$11.3bn a year earlier. Micron's revenue in each quarter of its latest financial year against the same quarter a year earlier, in US$bn. — This story’s chart of the day: the numbers, the dark version and the animated version are on its own page. The chart’s page →

The guidance is bigger again. Micron expects US$61.5 billion of revenue this quarter, give or take US$1.5 billion, where analysts had US$57.02 billion. Sanjay Mehrotra, the chief executive, said he expects an even stronger fiscal 2027.

The catch

memory cycles have always turned on supply rather than demand, and Micron put US$27.37 billion into plant and equipment last year with more to come. Our read is that fiscal 2027 looks close to sold out and fiscal 2028 is the one nobody can see yet.

This story ran in The Afternoon Fade Thursday 1 October’s edition, with the market snapshot, the other two stories, the numbers and the week ahead. Read the whole edition →

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