Micron to cut further NAND flash output
Jessie Shen, DIGITIMES, Taipei
Wednesday 26 June 2019
digitimes.com
Micron Technology has reiterated plans to idle up to 5% of DRAM wafer starts in 2019, but said the company will reduce its total NAND flash wafer starts by a larger 10% compared to the previously-planned 5% cut.
Micron saw its DRAM ASPs fall 20% sequentially in its third quarter of fiscal 2019, which ended May 30, while NAND flash ASPs were down in the mid-teens. The company saw its total revenues decline 18% sequentially and 39% on year to US$4.8 billion, which came in line with its guidance.
Micron saw its DRAM revenues decrease 19% on quarter and 45% from a year earlier to account for 64% of the total fiscal third-quarter revenues, while NAND revenues slipped 18% sequentially and 25% on year to account for 31% of revenues.
"Both DRAM and NAND revenue were negatively impacted by restriction on sales to Huawei, without which we would have reached the high end of our revenue guidance," said Micron CFO Dave Zinsner during a conference call on June 25.
Nevertheless, Micron disclosed that it has in the past two weeks resumed "lawfully" shipments for some Huawei orders that are not subject to the trade restrictions.
Micron posted net income of US$1.2 billion in its fiscal third-quarter 2019, with non-GAAP earnings per share reaching US$1.05 compared with US$3.15 in the year-ago quarter and US$1.71 in the prior quarter.
Looking into the fiscal fourth-quarter 2019, Micron expects revenues to be in the range of US$4.5 billion, plus or minus US$200 million, with gross margin ranging from 27.5% to 30.5% compared with 39% in the previous quarter. EPS for the quarter is estimated at US$0.45, plus or minus US$0.07.
In addition, Micron revised downward its capex target for fiscal 2019 to approximately US$9 billion from the US$10.5 billion set previously. And for fiscal 2020, the company expects capex to be "meaningfully lower" than the year-ago levels. "Further cuts in capex and bit supply will be required to return the industry to a healthy supply-demand balance," according to company CEO Sanjay Mehrotra.
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