Micron Revenue Surges 346% to Record as AI Memory Demand Accelerates
The chipmaker posted $25.11 in non-GAAP earnings per share, more than double the prior quarter, as data-center memory revenue nearly tripled year over year.
Micron Technology (MU) reported fiscal third-quarter revenue of $41.46 billion, a 346% increase from a year earlier and a 74% jump from the prior quarter, as demand for high-bandwidth memory used in artificial-intelligence workloads continued to outpace supply. The results marked the fourth consecutive quarter in which the memory-chip maker exceeded its own guidance by a wide margin, this time by roughly $8 billion on revenue, four points on gross margin, and $6 a share on non-GAAP earnings.
The quarter underscored a dramatic trajectory shift for Micron's business. Revenue has climbed from $9.30 billion in the year-ago period to $11.32 billion, $13.64 billion, $23.86 billion, and now $41.46 billion over the past five quarters, with sequential growth accelerating from the low-20% range to the mid-70s. Non-GAAP gross margin expanded to 84.9%, up from 39.0% a year ago, while operating margin reached 81.2%, compared with 26.8% in the year-ago quarter.
Non-GAAP diluted earnings rose to $25.11 a share, up from $12.20 in the fiscal second quarter and $1.91 a year earlier. Operating cash flow reached $25.39 billion, more than quadrupling from $4.61 billion in the year-ago period, and adjusted free cash flow totaled $18.3 billion. The cash generation allowed Micron to cut long-term debt to $5.14 billion from $14.02 billion at the end of fiscal 2025, while its cash and investments position swelled to $30.2 billion.
The Cloud Memory Business Unit led the gains, posting $13.77 billion in revenue with an 83% gross margin and 78% operating margin, up from $3.39 billion in revenue and a 46% operating margin a year ago. The Core Data Center Business Unit nearly doubled sequentially to $11.52 billion in revenue, with its operating margin widening to 83% from 20% a year earlier. The Mobile and Client unit also contributed, growing to $11.52 billion in revenue with an 86% operating margin, while the Automotive and Embedded unit reached $4.63 billion.
Micron disclosed that its HBM4 high-bandwidth memory is now in high-volume shipments for a lead customer's platform, with qualification samples sent to multiple end-customers. Development of HBM4E on 1-gamma DRAM technology is underway, with volume production expected in calendar 2027. The company also began high-volume production of a G9-based PCIe Gen6 solid-state drive and commenced shipments of a 245-terabyte QLC SSD. Separately, 1-gamma 16-gigabit LPDDR5X entered high-volume ramp at a leading smartphone maker, and 1-gamma LPDDR5 reached automotive product readiness.
For the fiscal fourth quarter, Micron guided to revenue of $50 billion, plus or minus $1 billion, implying roughly 21% sequential growth. Non-GAAP gross margin is expected at approximately 86%, and non-GAAP EPS is projected at $31.00, plus or minus $1.00. The guidance extends a pattern in which Micron has raised its outlook each quarter: fiscal fourth-quarter 2025 guidance was lifted mid-quarter last August, and each subsequent quarter's results have materially topped the company's initial forecast.
Capital spending rose to $7.1 billion in the quarter, up from $2.7 billion a year ago, reflecting record investment in capacity expansion. The board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 a share, a 30% increase from the prior rate. Nine-month revenue through the fiscal third quarter reached $78.96 billion, more than triple the $26.06 billion recorded in the comparable year-ago period.