Micron results are good news for Boise

To no one’s surprise, Micron Technology issued barnburning results on June 20.

Total revenue was $7.8 billion, up 6 percent from the previous quarter and 40 percent from the prior year. Non-GAAP gross margins expanded to a record 61 percent, up from 48 percent the prior year. Operating income grew to $4 billion on a non-GAAP basis, representing 52 percent of revenue, compared with 49 percent the previous quarter and 37 percent a year ago. Non-GAAP operating expenses came in at $733 million, up approximately 10 percent from the previous quarter.

The company had telegraphed its results in late May when it raised expectations and initiated a $10 billion stock buyback.

Micron, a global microchip and nanotechnology research and manufacturing company, has about 30,000 employees on several continents. The Boise campus, where the company got its start, is its research and technology headquarters, as well as its corporate base. The company has grown recently in Boise, and is constructing a 157,000-square foot building intended to accommodate up to 1,200 employees.

“Micron’s flying high these days,” said Jim Handy, a veteran Micron analyst and general director of Objective Analysis, in Los Gatos, California. “Although I am predicting a downturn later this year, today’s market is really doing the company a lot of favors, what with the stock buyback.”

Although Micron is international, the results are good news for Idaho, particularly Boise.

“The cool thing about Idaho is that Micron has named Boise the company’s ‘Center of Excellence’ for R&D,” Handy said. “That’s happening even though Micron has a growing presence in Silicon Valley.  Clearly, the folks in Boise are pretty hot stuff.”

However, that designation has one disadvantage. “The downside is that Boise is becoming less of Micron’s manufacturing,” Handy said. “I hope that doesn’t bode poorly for the rank and file.”