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Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Gottfried who wrote (24703)	9/29/1998 4:18:00 AM
From: Jacob Snyder	Respond to of 70976

Micron Technology Reports Smaller-Than-Expected 4th-Quarter Loss By Dean Takahashi, Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal Micron Technology Inc. late Monday reported a smaller-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter loss, reflecting stabilizing prices for memory chips. The Boise, Idaho, semiconductor maker reported a net loss of $89.1 million, or 42 cents a diluted share, for the quarter ended Sept. 3, compared with net income of $72.1 million, or 33 cents a diluted share, a year earlier. Analysts expected the company to post a loss of 54 cents a share. Revenue for the quarter was $692 million, down 27% from $946.2 million a year earlier. Despite the growth and profitability problems, Micron executives were upbeat in a conference call with analysts. They said prices for Micron's mainstay product, 64-megabit dynamic random-access memory chips, had stabilized during the past two months and the outlook for October was stable. The company announced the results after stock markets closed. Its shares fell 12.5 cents to $33.875 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. During the past year, Micron reported that memory-chip prices fell 60%, compared with about 75% in the year-earlier period. The persistent price weakness stemmed largely from a glut of memory-chip factories coupled with slowdowns in demand in Asia. Micron executives disclosed that the company has shifted ahead of competitors to a new generation of manufacturing technology, with circuitry just 0.21 micron in size, in a sign that the company may be able to reduce its costs faster than rivals. They also noted demand for memory, measured in the amount of storage capacity purchased, grew 63% during the fiscal fourth quarter over the third period. Analysts said it is too early to suggest the memory market has turned around. "Internally, Micron is executing extraordinarily well, but the environment has not warmed up much for memory-chip makers," said Jonathan Joseph, analyst at NationsBanc Montgomery Securities in San Francisco. "It's still tough." Mr. Joseph said Asian rivals, including big manufacturers in South Korea, appear to be a whole generation behind Micron in manufacturing technology, putting Micron in a good position as the lowest-cost DRAM producer for the future. But the company's performance will depend on how well it executes its acquisition of the memory division of Texas Instruments Inc., which could vault Micron to one of the top three companies in DRAM market share by year end. The deal is expected to close in October, a Micron spokeswoman said. Micron's stock rose during the past few days on rumors that Intel Corp. would buy a minority stake in the firm. Both companies declined to comment. Intel executives have said in the past it is strategically important for their company to ensure there is enough memory capacity to sustain the PC industry in years ahead. For fiscal 1998, Micron had a loss of $234.7 million, or $1.10 a diluted share, compared with net income of $332.2 million, or $1.55 a share a year earlier. Sales were $3.01 billion, down from $3.51 billion a year earlier. The 1998 results include a $38 million after-tax gain on the sale of Micron's contract manufacturing subsidiary.