Micron Shares Slip on Concern About Falling Prices
Boise, Idaho, Aug. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Shares of Micron Technology Inc., the biggest U.S. maker of memory chips, fell 4.6 percent amid concern that prices for its products, which had been rising in recent months, may be starting to slip.
Micron shares fell 2 13/16 to 57 3/4. The Boise, Idaho, company's stock has tumbled 16 percent in the past four days after reaching a five-month high of 68 9/16 last week.
Micron shares rose in recent weeks amid optimism that more stable prices for computer-memory chips would help turn around recent losses. Dynamic random-access memory prices, which were as low as $4 in June, have now risen as high as $7.25 as inventories were slimmed down and personal computer makers put more memory in their cheap machines. ''The thing that drives (Micron) stock is DRAM pricing, so this is probably a reflection of some softness in the market,'' said analyst Dan Scovel of Fahnestock & Co., who rates Micron ''hold.''
Some analysts said prices for DRAM chips on the spot market had fallen slightly to about $7. American IC Exchange, a chip broker that sells memory chips, said the price was steady at about $7.25.
Micron reported losses in five of the past six quarters as memory prices tumbled. The company is expected to report a loss of 20 cents a share in its fiscal fourth quarter ending this month, according to First Call Corp. |
