Micron Technology has recently announced a remarkable turnaround, logging a larger-than-expected profit for its fiscal fourth quarter, propelled significantly by the growing demand for artificial intelligence. This surge in demand has led the memory and storage product manufacturer to report revenues that surpassed Wall Street estimates, particularly highlighting its adeptness in meeting the needs of an evolving technology landscape. In the three months ending August 29, Micron disclosed adjusted earnings per share of $1.18, reversing from a loss of $1.07 during the same period last year.
Analysts had anticipated earnings of $1.11; thus, Micron’s performance significantly exceeded expectations. Furthermore, the company's revenue experienced a staggering increase of 93%, touching $7.75 billion, which also eclipsed the Street's projections of $7.65 billion. Following this positive announcement, Micron's shares surged, rising by 13% in after-hours trading, reflecting investor enthusiasm over the company's robust performance. Chief Executive Sanjay Mehrotra emphasized the critical role of AI in this growth story.
He stated that the strong demand for AI technologies has facilitated a significant ramp-up in their data center dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) products, as well as their industry-leading high bandwidth memory offerings. For the first time, quarterly revenue from solid-state drive sales in data centers exceeded $1 billion, marking a significant milestone for Micron. Dynamic random-access memory, commonly known as DRAM, functions as the primary memory architecture utilized in most computers, servers, and consumer electronic devices, as noted on IBM's website.
This inherent versatility positions Micron favorably under the current market dynamics. Every one of Micron's four business units showcased year-over-year revenue increases, with noteworthy gains in both storage and compute networks, which more than doubled compared to previous figures. Looking ahead, Micron has provided a positive outlook for the ongoing quarter, forecasting adjusted earnings per share of $1.74, with a variation of plus or minus $0.08.
The expected revenue for this period is projected between $8.5 billion and $8.9 billion, as the consensus anticipates normalized earnings per share of $1.54 and sales of approximately $8.21 billion. Mehrotra conveyed an optimistic message regarding the future, declaring, 'We are entering fiscal 2025 with the best competitive positioning in Micron's history.
We forecast record revenue in the fiscal first quarter and a substantial revenue record with significantly improved profitability in fiscal 2025.' In market trading, Micron's stock closed at a price of $108.35, reflecting a change of +12.58, resulting in a percent change of +13.14..