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Micron posts second-quarter profit; shares rise

[April 04, 2014]  By Noel Randewich

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) — Memory chip maker Micron Technology Inc posted a larger-than-expected fiscal second-quarter net profit, helped by a strong recovery in chip prices and sending its stock higher.

Prices for DRAM chips made by Micron, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have bounced back from a deep memory chip price slump in 2012 that led some chipmakers to throttle back production.

"They're executing pretty well in an improved memory market," said Pacific Crest analyst Monika Garg. "DRAM was much better than expectations. On the NAND side they're facing a slightly higher average selling price decline but I think that's expected."

The company on Thursday reported a net profit of $731 million, or 61 cents per share, in the quarter ended February 27, compared with a loss of $286 million, or 28 cents, a year earlier.

Excluding items, Micron earned 85 cents per share, better than the 76 cents expected by analysts, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Revenue rose 98 percent to $4.11 billion. Analysts an average expected revenue of $3.985 billion.

Micron's stock has surged over 160 percent in the past 12 months, helped by the recovery in memory chip prices as well as news in November that David Einhorn's hedge fund Greenlight Capital had invested in the company.

Shares of Micron were up 1.29 percent in extended trade after closing down 1.44 percent at $24.

(Reporting by Noel Randewich; editing by Bernard Orr)

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