MICRON SHARES CLIMB AMID TALK OF GLOBAL DRAM-MARKET STABILIZATION
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NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Shares of Micron Technology Inc. rose 6.9% Wednesday as the outlook for the international computer-memory market turns positive, analysts said.
Credit Suisse First Boston Inc. analyst John M. Geraghty said supply and demand for dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, chips was beginning to normalize after a period of uncertainty over the sector's performance.
Geraghty, who on Wednesday upgraded his rating on Micron (MU) to "buy" from "hold," said embattled Asian nations in particular may be "starting to make some cutbacks" to realign their DRAM markets.
Daniel T. Niles, an analyst at BancAmerica Robertson Stephens & Co., also cited restructuring efforts in Southeast Asia in explaining the DRAM-industry rebound.
Niles pointed to a recent announcement by Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN) predicting 10% growth in the chip industry in 1998, up from 5% last year.
Texas Instruments "came out and thought that cutbacks in Korea and Japan would help supply and demand come back into balance," he said. Consequently, "people are optimistic that we've seen the bottom of the sector drop."
Micron's NYSE-listed shares closed at $32.125, up $2.630 on volume of 6.7 million. Average daily volume for the stock is 4.3 million.
-Justin A. Oppelaar; 201-938-5175
Copyright (c) 1998 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
January 21, 1998 6:16 PM
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