Micron Technology's fiscal fourth quarter revealed that the high-bandwidth memory shortage driving AI infrastructure spending has years of runway left, with the company's production capacity already 75 percent committed through the end of 2027 and supply-demand dynamics expected to tighten further in 2028.
The numbers behind the beat
Revenue reached $54.23 billion, up 379 percent from a year earlier and nearly 31 percent sequentially, clearing expectations by more than five percentage points. DRAM sales, which encompass the high-bandwidth memory used in AI accelerators, climbed 27 percent quarter over quarter and 252 percent for the full year. NAND revenue rose 42 percent sequentially and 274 percent year over year, a signal that demand extends beyond the compute layer into the storage tier where AI-generated data accumulates.
Margins and cash conversion
Gross margin nearly doubled from the prior year. Operating margin more than doubled. Operating cash flow surged 7.7 times to exceed 81 percent of revenue. Net income and adjusted earnings per share each grew elevenfold. The company guided fiscal first-quarter results well above consensus, implying analysts will need to revise full-year estimates upward again.
Capacity visibility and analyst reaction
Signed contracts cover 35 percent of capacity through 2030, a figure management expects to rise. Forty-five analysts tracked by MarketBeat show an 89 percent buy-side bias with no sell ratings; the consensus price target implies roughly 30 percent upside from September's close, while the high end approaches $2,000. Institutions, which hold more than 80 percent of shares, returned to net buying in the third quarter after mixed activity in the second.