1 October 2026
If you are covering Micron's latest financial results, please find below a comment from Ben Barringer, head of technology research at Quilter Cheviot:
"Micron delivered a beat and raise, yet the market did not reward this as expectations were high coming into these results. It beat revenue expectations by raised its guidance by 7%, but its guidance on gross margin was down slightly which disappointed some and is something that never helps semiconductor stocks.
"That said, market conditions remain very strong, so expectations are going to remain high well into next year. Demand continues to outstrip supply, and Micron expects that to continue into 2027 and a significant number of its sales are now under long term agreements. Micron will use that to try to dampen some of the cyclicality in the memory market. Memory price continues to go up, but not as much it has been in recent years, so if you will, the second derivative is slowing, but the price is still going up. Nvidia has been using a reduced amount of memory due to the price, but it is a leader so can afford to do this. Micron ultimately needs to keep shipping as many chips as it can regardless of the wider dynamics of the memory market.
"China remains a concern for investors as competition intensifies there. The country is less than 10% of Micron's revenue, but it is something that people still worry about. Meanwhile, capex guidance was in line with the balance sheet and Micron too is increasing its buyback next quarter when they are allowed to following the CHIPS Act restrictions. So overall, Micron is performing well in what is a cyclical industry. That cyclicality is slightly being dampened by long-term agreements, but the cycle looks like it’s going to continue to extend, leaving Micron perhaps a little more exposed compared to other chip makers in the market."
