Micron shares gain on $10 billion stock buyback

[May 22, 2018]  (Reuters) - Shares of Micron Technology Inc <MU.O> gained 5 percent on Tuesday and were the most traded stock on Wall Street, a day after the chipmaker said it would buy back up to $10 billion of its shares.

At least four analysts raised their price targets on the stock after the memory chipmaker announced its biggest ever buyback, worth about 16 percent of the company's market value of about $64 billion.

The move follows the company's newly announced plans to return at least 50 percent of free cash flow to stockholders starting next year.

Separately, the company announced a deal with Intel Corp <INTC.O> to produce and ship the world's highest-density 3D NAND flash memory chip.

"Micron laid out the case that its business is strong and getting stronger as the demand for memory continues to expand, particularly as we enter a new age of AI," Barclays analyst Blayne Curtis wrote in a client note.

At a median price target of $73.00, analysts expect nearly 25 percent upside to Micron which was last up 6 percent at $58.75 in premarket trading in New York.

(Reporting by Sonam Rai in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)

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