Micron shares advance; analysts see solid demand, favorable pricing for chip maker
By APWednesday, March 10, 2010
Micron shares up; analysts see solid chip demand
NEW YORK — Shares of Micron Technology climbed Wednesday after at least two analysts reiterated their upbeat outlooks for the chip maker, saying demand and pricing are working in its favor.
Raymond James analyst Hans Mosesmann posted a “Strong Buy” rating on Micron and said the company’s expectations for 2010 suggests a healthy consumer demand for DRAM, or dynamic random access memory, chips for servers. He said about 20 percent of Micron’s overall sales are for server products.
“We suspect that in a (supply) constrained environment Micron will allocate more capacity for this market, particularly since there are only two to three players in this space,” the analyst wrote.
JMP Securities analyst Alex Gauna, meanwhile, reiterated a “Market Outperform” rating and raised his target price to $15 from $13.50.
Gauna said that after sizing up the industry he is increasingly confident about demand for Micron’s chips.
Micron said last month it plans to buy memory chip maker Numonyx in an all-stock transaction that the companies value at $1.27 billion.
Micron Technology Inc., based in Boise, Idaho, makes memory chips for mobile phones, cameras and other electronics. Its shares rose 39 cents, or 4.1 percent, to $9.80 in midday trading.
