Micron, the world's No. 3 memory semiconductor corporations, beat market expectations in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2025 (June–August) on the back of growing high bandwidth memory (HBM) sales driven by the artificial intelligence (AI) industry's expansion. Because Micron reports results ahead of competitors in the memory semiconductor industry, it serves as a "barometer" for the chip sector. Micron also said it shipped final samples (CS) of HBM4 (6th-generation HBM) that met customers' enhanced performance criteria.
On the 23rd (local time), Micron said revenue for the quarter was $11.32 billion (about 15.7925 trillion won), up 46% from a year earlier. Operating profit over the same period rose 126.6% year over year to $3.96 billion (about 5.5242 trillion won), and the operating margin was 35.0%, up 12.5 percentage points (1,250 bp) from a year earlier. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) surged 156.8% year over year to $3.03.
Initially, market research firm LSEG compiled a Wall Street average revenue forecast of $11.12 billion (about 15.45 trillion won). The EPS forecast was $2.87, expected to rise 142% from a year earlier.
By business unit, cloud memory revenue jumped 213.6% year over year to $4.543 billion. The mobile & client unit rose 24.5% to $3.76 billion, and the automotive & embedded unit increased 16.6% to $1.434 billion. In contrast, core data center revenue fell 23.0% to $1.577 billion.
Regarding its HBM business, Micron said, "HBM revenue grew to nearly $2 billion (about 2.79 trillion won), driven by growth in our industry-leading HBM3E (5th-generation HBM) products," adding, "HBM share is again on an uptrend, and in the third quarter it will remain at a level similar to our overall DRAM share." It added that HBM4 (6th-generation HBM) is also being supported as a best-in-class product to meet customers' demands for technological advancements. Micron supplies HBM3E (5th-generation HBM) to both Nvidia and AMD, the "big players" that control 80% of the AI chip market. Micron also said it recently delivered HBM4 samples that exceed the elevated performance criteria requested by customers.
Micron provided first-quarter guidance for fiscal year 2026 of $12.2 billion–$12.8 billion in revenue (midpoint $12.5 billion), adjusted EPS of $3.60–$3.90 (midpoint $3.75), and a gross margin of 50.5%–52.5% (midpoint 51.5%). This is well above Wall Street expectations of $11.91 billion in revenue, EPS of $3.05, and a gross margin of 45.7%.
Sanjay Mehrotra, Micron's chief executive officer (CEO), said, "Micron closed fiscal year 2025 with record results, proving leadership in technology, products and operations," adding, "In particular, we achieved all-time high results in our data center business, and we are starting fiscal year 2026 with strong momentum and the most competitive portfolio."