Micron Results Top Estimates

(RTTNews) - Memory chip maker Micron Technology, Inc. (MU) said Thursday after the markets closed that it swung to a second quarter profit, as revenue nearly doubled and gross margin improved sharply thanks to its July 2013 acquisition of Elpida Memory, Inc.

The company's quarterly earnings per share, excluding items, also handily beat analyst estimates as did its quarterly revenue.

Micron shares are currently gaining 0.21% in after hours trading after closing the day's regular trading session at $24.00, down 35 cents or 1.44%. The shares trade in a 52-week range of $9.04 to $25.68.

The Boise, Idaho-based company reported net income for the second quarter of $731 million or $0.61 per share, compared to a net loss of $286 million or $0.28 per share for the year-ago quarter.

This marks the company's fourth straight quarterly profit after a string of seven consecutive quarterly losses.

Excluding items, adjusted net income for the latest quarter was $989 million or $0.85 per share.

On average, 20 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.76 per share for the second quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Gross margin for the quarter improved to 34.2% from 17.6% in the prior year quarter.

Net sales for the second quarter jumped 98% to $4.11 billion from $2.08 billion in the same quarter last year. Twenty-nine analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $3.99 billion for the second quarter.

The company said second quarter revenues from sales of DRAM products were essentially unchanged from the prior quarter, as both sales volumes and average selling prices remained stable.

Second quarter revenues from sales of Trade NAND Flash products grew 11% over the previous quarter, as a 35% increase in sales volume was offset by an 18% decrease in average selling prices.

DRAM chips are most widely used in personal computers, while NAND Flash memory chips are used in iPods, digital cameras and other portable devices.

In memory chip market, Micron competes with industry leader Samsung and Hynix Semiconductor among others. Micron has expanded into a new area of the memory market known as NOR with its $1.2 billion acquisition of Numonyx. The latest acquisition of Elpida helped increase Micron's global market share for DRAM chips.