Micron Technology shares climb after chip maker reports better-than-expected earnings

Micron Technology shares jump on strong earnings

SEATTLE — Shares of Micron Technology Inc. rose to a new year high Wednesday, a day after the memory chip maker reported its first quarterly profit in about three years, far exceeding Wall Street estimates.

Micron’s stock jumped 55 cents, or 5.8 percent, to $9.96 in midday trading. Earlier, the stock traded as high as $10, eclipsing a prior 52-week high of $9.48 set the day before.

Micron’s profit for the three months ended Dec. 3 beat projections thanks to stronger memory pricing, wrote Broadpoint AmTech analyst Dinesh Moorjani in a note to investors. The analyst raised his price target for Micron’s shares to $12 from $10.

Micron’s chips are used in computers, mobile phones, memory cards and digital cameras. Moorjani noted that demand doesn’t appear to be slowing for Micron’s DRAM chips. Additionally, the popularity of new smart phones are driving up demand for Micron’s NAND flash memory, Moorjani said.