M.U. missed their #.
I'm sure you have already discussed this, but just in case you haven't , here it is,Comment's ??Monday December 15, 7:23 pm Eastern Time
Micron Technology reports lower profits
BOISE, Idaho, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Micron Technology Inc. [NYSE:MU - news] reported weaker-than-expected earnings for the latest quarter Monday as sharply lower memory chip prices cut profits, and said prices were likely to remain under pressure.
Separately, Micron Electronics Inc. [Nasdaq:MUEI - news], a direct seller of personal computers that is 60 percent-owned by Micron Technology, also reported a sharp drop in profits on lower-than-expected sales.
Micron Technology of Boise, Idaho, which makes memory chips, said earnings for the fiscal first quarter ended Nov. 27 fell to $10 million, or 4 cents a share, from $21 million, or 10 cents a share. Wall Street analysts had expected earnings of 9 cents a share, according to First Call.
Sales rose to $955 million from $728 million.
Micron Technology said the average selling price for computer memory chips dropped about 25 percent compared with the fourth quarter of 1997, following a 75 percent drop in average selling prices for fiscal 1997.
The company said pricing for semiconductor memory products remained under pressure.
Micron said that its gross profit margins on semiconductor products declined to 32 percent of revenues in the first quarter, from 44 percent in the fourth quarter of fiscal 1997.
At the same time direct PC seller Micron Electronics said its fiscal first quarter earnings fell to $1.1 million, or 1 cent a share, on sales of $558.9 million. That compared with $24.8 million, or 27 cents a share, on sales of $421 million for the first quarter of fiscal 1997.
Analysts had expected per share earnings of 6 cents per share, according to First Call.
Micron Technology owns 60 percent of Nampa, Idaho-based Micron Electronics, which is a direct supplier of personal computers.
''Sales in the first quarter of fiscal 1998 did not meet our expectations,'' Micron Technology Chairman Joseph Daltoso said in a statement. He said lower sales ''resulted in higher levels of PC inventories during the quarter.''
Jim
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