Micron Technology Fourth Quarter Earnings Sneak Peek

S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) component Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday, September 27, 2012. Micron Technology is a global manufacturer and marketer of Flash memory, image sensors and other semiconductor components.

Micron Technology Earnings Preview Cheat Sheet

Wall St. Earnings Expectations: The average estimate of analysts is for a loss of 21 cents per share, a wider loss from the year-earlier quarter net loss of 13 cents. During the past three months, the average estimate has moved down from a loss of 19 cents. Between one and three months ago, the average estimate moved down. It has been unchanged at a loss of 21 cents during the last month. Analysts are projecting net loss of $1.01 per share versus profit of 28 cents last year.

Past Earnings Performance: The company enters this earnings report having missed estimates the last four quarters. Last quarter, the company fell short of expectations by 13 cents, reporting a loss of of 32 cents per share against a mean estimate of net loss of 19 cents per share.

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A Look Back: In the third quarter, the company swung to a loss of $320 million (32 cents a share) from a profit of $75 million (7 cents) a year earlier, missing analyst expectations. Revenue rose 1.5% to $2.17 billion from $2.14 billion.

Stock Price Performance: Between June 27, 2012 and September 21, 2012, the stock price rose 64 cents (11.2%), from $5.72 to $6.36. The stock price saw one of its best stretches over the last year between December 28, 2011 and January 9, 2012, when shares rose for eight straight days, increasing 18.3% (+$1.13) over that span. It saw one of its worst periods between September 23, 2011 and October 3, 2011 when shares fell for seven straight days, dropping 34.9% (-$2.32) over that span.

Analyst Ratings: With 20 analysts rating the stock a buy, none rating it a sell and five rating the stock a hold, there are indications of a bullish stance by analysts.

Key Stats:

On the top line, the company is looking to build on last quarter’s revenue increase, which snapped a string of revenue drops. Revenue fell 14.2% in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year, 7.2% in the first quarter and 11% in the second quarter before climbing in the third quarter.

Balance Sheet Analysis: The company’s current ratio of assets to liabilities came in at 2.59 last quarter. Having a ratio above 2:1 is usually considered a good indicator of a company’s liquidity and ability to meet creditor demands. The company regressed in this liquidity measure from 2.69 in the second quarter to the last quarter driven in part by an increase in liabilities. Current liabilities increased 3.6% to $2.18 billion while assets decreased 0.5% to $5.63 billion.

Wall St. Revenue Expectations: On average, analysts predict $2.13 billion in revenue this quarter, a decline of 0.5% from the year-ago quarter. Analysts are forecasting total revenue of $8.42 billion for the year, a decline of 4.2% from last year’s revenue of $8.79 billion.

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(Company fundamentals by Xignite Financials. Earnings estimates provided by Zacks)

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