Micron & the Dell-factor:Micron kicks ass beats consensus.Fasten your seat-belts.
Votaire:
Say you think this is worth a few pennies tomorrow? You know that guy from DELL Joel the new CEO of Micron seem to know what he is doing,a tribute to DELL certainly. Also note Dell now has one less competition in Japan in direct sales as Micron is closing down operations in Japan-HeeeeeeHaaaaw.....
BTW notice the 19% sequential growth form Q4 to Q1,does that mean I need to buckle up for tomorrow?<g>
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Micron Electronics' Profit Surges as Shipments Rise (Update1)
Micron Electronics' Profit Surges as Shipments Rise (Update1) (Adds analyst's comment in fourth paragraph.)
Nampa, Idaho, Dec. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Micron Electronics Inc., the No. 3 direct seller of personal computers, reported better-than-expected fiscal first-quarter earnings as shipments reached a record during the holiday selling season.
Net income in the quarter ended Dec. 3 surged more than 10- fold to $11.7 million, or 12 cents a share, from $1.07 million, or 1 cent, a year ago. Micron was expected to earn 11 cents, the average estimate of analysts polled by First Call Corp. Sales fell 28 percent to $403.5 million from $558.9 million.
Micron's gain came from wider profit margins on its PCs and record unit shipments. Sales fell from the year-ago quarter because PC prices have tumbled so much this year, driven lower by intense price competition. Micron Chief Executive Joel Kocher has kept up with the bruising cuts by slashing costs. ''It was a good report,'' said Sands Brothers & Co. analyst Matthew Russo, who rates Micron shares ''buy.''
Though down from the year-ago period, Micron's sales rose 19 percent from the fourth quarter ended Sept. 3.
Russo said Micron's revenue beat his own estimates, showing that Kocher has been able to boost sales, the second stage in his plan to improve Micron's performance. Kocher came to the company in January and made cost-cutting his first priority. Micron had been suffering from high costs and weakening sales. ''The revenue number was excellent,'' Russo said.
Japan
Today, the Nampa, Idaho-based company said it will close its direct-sales operation in Japan in order to concentrate on the North American market. Micron sells PCs over the phone and Internet, the same as Dell Computer Corp. and Gateway 2000 Inc.
The company said it will take a charge of about $3.2 million in the second quarter ending in February to pay for the closure. ''Given the priorities that we are now focused on, we cannot justify the costs associated with a direct model effort in Japan,'' Kocher said in a statement.
Micron's gross margin -- the percentage of revenue left after manufacturing costs are subtracted -- widened to 17.1 percent in the quarter from 13.8 percent a year ago.
Micron Electronics is majority-owned by Micron Technology Inc., one of the world's biggest makers of memory chips used in personal computers and other electronics.
Micron Electronics shares rose 9/16 to 21 3/8. They've climbed more than 50 percent in the past three months. Micron reported earnings after the close of regular U.S. trading.
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