Micron Technology Sees Loss During Second Quarter

Micron Technology (News - Alert), which only recently lost its CEO in a tragic plane crash, experienced lower sales during the second quarter.

The manufacturer of memory chips reported a $224 million net loss during the quarter, according to an article carried on TMCnet. The net loss was 23 cents a share, as opposed to the profit of $72 million (7 cents a share) it saw during the same period last year, TMCnet added.

In addition, the loss for the quarter was more than the 19 cents a share predicted in a survey by FactSet (News - Alert). The quarter also saw company revenue dropping by 8 percent to $2.07 billion, the TMCnet report said. Micron’s second quarter of fiscal 2012 ended on March 1.

It was in February when CEO Steve Appleton died after a plane he was flying crashed shortly after taking off in Boise, Idaho. Mark Durcan, who was Micron's president and chief operating officer, was appointed CEO after Appleton died.

In its analysis of the quarterly results, Reuters reported that the company said “persistently low prices for its memory chips had yet to recover.”

It is significant that Japanese DRAM chipmaker Elpida went into bankruptcy in February, Reuters (News - Alert) said. That has led to a prediction that “chipmakers' pricing power, diminished by oversupply, will bounce back this year,” Reuters said. But Micron said the DRAM prices did not increase, and prices for NAND dropped, when comparing them with prices in the previous quarter, Reuters adds.

Micron was identified by Reuters as the top U.S. memory chipmaker. Its shares increased almost 40 percent so far this year, Reuters adds.

Revenue from NAND Flash products and DRAM products were “slightly higher” during the 2Q of fiscal 2012 compared to the 1Q –  mostly because of the approximately 20 percent jump in sales volumes which were “offset by decreases in average selling prices,” according to a company statement.

“Recently we're seeing improvements in the DRAM market ... I think concerns over supply seem to be having a positive or at least stabilizing effect,” Durcan said in a recent conference call. “Overall, we see generally healthy supply/demand outlook for NAND moving forward.”

In addition, there is speculation Micron may try to buy one or two of Elpida's plants in Japan and Taiwan, which Reuters says, could be changed to manufacture NAND chips. These are used in such currently popular devices as tablets and smartphones.

Micron makes semiconductor chips. Its products include the Lexar and Crucial brands, according to TMCnet. Micron also makes DRAM, NAND and NOR flash memory, as well as other memory technology, TMCnet reported.