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Commentary: Micron losses set to continue
Amanda Liang, DIGITIMES, Taipei [Tuesday 19 July 2016]
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Micron Technology has announced that it will continue to suffer losses in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2016 (June-August 2016), marking three consecutive quarterly losses. The losses are expected to come despite the fact that it has begun producing DRAM chips with a 20nm process, and rivals Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have begun to reduce their production of DRAM and NAND flash chips.
The production cut by Korea-based memory chipmakers failed to make an upward correction in DRAM contract prices for the third quarter of fiscal 2016 during which the US memory chipmaker saw ASPs of its DRAM chips slide over 11% on quarter.
But the ratio of DRAM revenues to Micron's total sales climbed to 60% in the fiscal third quarter, from 54% a quarter earlier, while the ratio of NAND flash chips declined to 31% from 37%.
Sequential DRAM revenue growth in the fiscal third quarter resulted from a 22% increase in bit shipment growth and a 9% reduction in production cost per bit. But Micron reported a net loss of US$215 million for the quarter as sales growth was partially offset by an 11% fall in ASP. The cost advantage brought upon by the introduction of the 20nm process node has failed to usher in a new round of growth momentum for Micron.
While waiting for an improvement of market conditions to bring in a turnaround, Micron also needs to address its relatively high level of inventory. The company saw inventories climb 12% sequentially to US$2.9 billion in the fiscal third quarter, an amount which almost equals to its quarterly revenues. Bringing down inventories seems a more urgent issue than an improvement in market conditions.
But the question is that Micron has yet to make any commitment to cut its DRAM production capacity like Samsung and SK Hynix. A further rise in inventory could affect Micron's liquid assets and liabilities.
At the end of May 2016, Micron had account receivables of about US$2 billion but also had account payables of US$3.6 billion, indicating the chipmaker faces a high level of liquidity risk. Micron solved the issue through the sale of US$2 billion in bonds.
Additionally, Micron currently has long-term debts of US$8.9 billion compared to its cash reserves of US$5.6 billion, which means it does not have sufficient cash to meet its long-term liabilities.
Micron has been reluctant to give a full account for its delay to finalize its planned acquisition of Taiwan-based subsidiary, Inotera Memories, despite a recent visit to Taiwan by the company's CEO Mark Durcan and CFO Ernie Maddock, raising the question of whether the planned acquisition has affected by Micron's financial constraints. |
