Micron Booked $54.2 Billion in One Quarter. The Same Quarter a Year Earlier Was $11.3 Billion.

Micron Technology reported results for its fiscal fourth quarter and full year 2026 on 30 September. The quarter, which ended on 3 September, produced revenue of $54.23 billion. The equivalent quarter a year earlier produced $11.32 billion. The sequential comparison, against the $41.46 billion of the third quarter, is an increase of 31%.

Those are not the proportions of a normal business cycle in memory, and the margin figures are not either.

The quarter

• Revenue: $54.23 billion
• GAAP gross margin: $47.047 billion, or 86.8% of revenue
• Non-GAAP gross margin: $47.204 billion, or 87.0% of revenue
• GAAP operating income: $43.751 billion, or 80.7% of revenue
• Non-GAAP operating income: $44.636 billion, or 82.3% of revenue
• GAAP net income: $37.701 billion; non-GAAP net income: $38.398 billion
• GAAP diluted EPS: $32.87; non-GAAP diluted EPS: $33.42

The non-GAAP diluted figure of $33.42 came in above the $31.16 analysts had been expecting.

Where the revenue came from

DRAM contributed $39.8 billion, about 73% of the quarter, on mid-single-digit bit growth and high-teens percentage increases in average selling prices. NAND contributed $14.1 billion, about 26%, on roughly 10% sequential bit shipment growth and average selling price gains of around 30%.

In other words, the great majority of the increase is price, not volume. Bit shipments grew in the single digits and low double digits; prices grew several times faster.

All four business units set quarterly revenue records. The Core Data Center unit led with $18.0 billion, up 56% sequentially, at a 90% gross margin. The Cloud Memory unit produced $16.3 billion at an 83% gross margin.

The full year

• Revenue: $133.188 billion, against $37.378 billion in fiscal 2025
• GAAP net income: $84.969 billion; non-GAAP net income: $86.758 billion
• Operating cash flow: $89.675 billion, against $17.525 billion
• Net capital expenditure: $27.367 billion
• Adjusted free cash flow: $62.308 billion

What the company says comes next

Micron guided fiscal first-quarter 2027 revenue to $61.5 billion, plus or minus $1.5 billion, with GAAP gross margin of about 85.95% and non-GAAP of about 86.25%. Guided diluted EPS is $37.84 plus or minus $1.00 on a GAAP basis and $38.15 plus or minus $1.00 on a non-GAAP basis. Operating expenses are guided to roughly $2.31 billion GAAP and $2.06 billion non-GAAP.

Management expects both DRAM and NAND to remain supply-constrained through 2028, describing 'a structural gap between DRAM supply and demand growth rates' that 'is leading to ongoing supply tightness' and requires additional cleanroom capacity. Net capital expenditure for the first quarter of fiscal 2027 is expected at about $11.5 billion, with full-year capital expenditure rising substantially against prior plans to accelerate cleanroom availability through late 2028.

Contracts rather than spot sales

The company said it has signed 26 Strategic Customer Agreements covering more than 35% of projected revenue through 2030, carrying $32 billion in customer commitments, primarily cash deposits. Agreements on high-bandwidth memory now cover the vast majority of calendar 2027 supply, at prices significantly above the prior year.

AI is becoming Super Intelligence (SI), and memory enhances this intelligence and the competitiveness of our customers' platforms.