SAN FRANCISCO – Micron Technology Inc. (MU) Wednesday reported a quarterly profit compared with a year-ago loss, as the memory chip maker said improved prices boosted revenue by more than 50 percent.
The revenue increase, however, fell short of some analyst estimates, and the company's shares fell 3 percent in trading after the close of markets, giving up earlier gains.
In the company's fiscal third quarter ended June 3, Micron said it earned $90.9 million, or 13 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $214.9 million, or 36 cents a share. Sales rose to $1.12 billion from $732.7 million in the same period last year.
Analysts on average had expected the Boise, Idaho-based company to post a profit of 9 cents a share on sales of $1.15 billion, according to a poll of analysts by Reuters Estimates (search).
Sales in the latest quarter rose 13 percent, attributed primarily to higher prices of memory chips. The average price for memory chips rose 15 percent from the second quarter, Micron said.
Micron shares rose 60 cents, or 4.3 percent, to close at $14.46 on the New York Stock Exchange (search). In after-hours trading, the stock fell to $14.
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