Micron Technology CEO Sanjay Mehrotra told CNBC on Thursday that the memory chip supply crunch is so tight that the company can only get its key customers a fraction of what they need.
“We are only able to supply, for our key customers in the midterm, about 50% to two-thirds of their requirements,” Mehrotra told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street.”
The chipmaker posted blockbuster fiscal second-quarter earnings after the bell on Wednesday, but shares fell 3% on Thursday.
Micron nearly tripled revenue in the latest quarter as results sailed past analysts’ estimates.
Micron stock is up more than 350% in the past year thanks to a memory supply shortage driven by surging demand for Nvidia’s AI chips.
“Micron is the invisible layer powering AI today, and that’s reflecting in our strong performance and strong outlook as well,” Mehrotra said Thursday.
Citi analysts put the stock’s premarket move down to “some profit taking after a strong run” and maintained a buy rating on the stock.
“We believe the big investor debate on the stock is if the stock will continue to rise with rising DRAM prices, like during the Windows PC DRAM cycle in the 1990s,” they wrote.
Goldman analysts expect the stock to be range-bound in the short term, following a “very strong quarter with guidance that was far ahead of the Street, against elevated investor expectations.”
The bank is keeping its rating on the stock at neutral, flagging the “potential risk of slowing HBM price momentum in 2027 given the prospects of meaningful supply additions.”
Micron is not the only tech company to see its stellar earnings fail to translate into meaningful share price movement lately.
Nvidia reported a blowout quarter on Feb. 26, but its stock fell 5% on the day, reflecting investor caution over recent stellar gains as well as wider concerns about its leadership in the artificial intelligence race.
Despite the muted market reaction, several banks raised their price targets for Micron stock on Thursday morning. Wells Fargo updated its forecast to $550 per share from $470. Barclays raised its target to $670 from $450.
— CNBC’s Katie Tarasov and Jordan Novet also contributed to this report.
Micron year-to-date stock chart.
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