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Technology Stocks : Micron Only Forum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DavidG who wrote (36707)	7/30/1998 11:33:00 PM
From: Alvin Wong	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 53903

Dear David, Do you know when Micron is due to report earnings? Thanks. Alvin.

To: DavidG who wrote (36707)	7/31/1998 12:01:00 AM
From: DJBEINO	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 53903

Micron Tech Says Memory Chip Shipments Rising, Prices Stabilize Bloomberg News July 30, 1998, 5:34 p.m. PT Micron Tech Says Memory Chip Shipments Rising, Prices Stabilize Boise, Idaho, July 30 (Bloomberg) -- Micron Technology Inc., one of the largest memory chip makers, said shipments of the semiconductors are rising and prices have stabilized. The price of 64-megabit dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, chips has leveled off above $8 apiece, said Micron Vice President Kipp Bedard. Micron needs stronger sales and stable chip prices to return to profitability. Because of technology advances, the company will be able to produce a 64-megabit DRAM for $5 to $6 before the end of the year,, Bedard said. ''We've seen some tick up in pricing,'' Bedard said at the BancAmerica Robertson Stephens Semiconductor Conference in San Francisco. ''Unit volume is definitely increasing.'' About half of all silicon wafers in Micron's plants are being used to make chips that use 0.21 micron technology. The measurement refers to the microscopic space between features on a semiconductor chip. The smaller measurement means Micron can get more chips out of a silicon wafer, lowering its costs. A two-year slump in prices has prompted many DRAM manufacturers to cut investment in new factories. Bedard said he expects companies to spend $5 billion worldwide this year on new chip plants and refurbishing older ones, down from $18.5 billion in 1996. Also boding well for Micron is the fact that personal computer makers are using more DRAM chips in every PC this year, Bedard said. Shares of Micron fell 1/8 to 7 7/8. The stock has declined 18 percent so far this year. Earnings Pressure On June 18, Micron said it had a loss of $106.1 million, or 50 cents a diluted share, in the quarter ended May 28, compared with net income of $96.8 million, or 45 cents, in the year-ago quarter. Analysts had expected Micron to lose 43 cents a share in the quarter, according to IBES International Inc. Sales fell 37 percent to $609.9 million from $965.0 million. Micron is losing money because rivals in South Korea and elsewhere built a slew of new factories after prices for dynamic random access memory chips skyrocketed in 1994. Now there are too many plants pumping out the devices. DRAMs are the most common memory chips used in personal computers and other devices. ''We're expecting red ink through 1999,'' said Jim Handy, an analyst at Gartner Group's Dataquest. Prices for 16-megabit DRAM, the predecessor to 64-megabit chips, have fallen to less than $2 apiece from more than $8 a little more than a year ago. Still, Micron can make the chips for far less than nearly all of its rivals. Boise, Idaho-based Micron is one of the largest DRAM makers in the world, along with Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Semiconductor Co., of South Korea. Samsung is the world's largest DRAM maker, while Micron and Texas Instruments Inc. are the two largest U.S.-based DRAM makers.