Micron Technology Inc., the Boise-based computer chipmaker that recently announced shelving a $2.5 billion Utah expansion, has reported a modest increase in its fiscal second-quarter profits.
The company said Thursday that net income for the quarter ending Feb. 29 totaled $188.2 million, up fractionally from the $183.5 million a year earlier.That translated into 87 cents a share on net sales of $996.5 million, compared with 86 cents a share on net sales of $628.5 million during the second quarter of 1995.
Profits for the first half of the company's fiscal year totaled $516.7 million, or $2.39 a share, on nearly $2.2 billion in sales. That compares with $342.8 million in profits, or $1.61 a share, on less than $1.2 billion in sales during the first six months of the last fiscal year.
Second-quarter sales and profits were off substantially from the $328.5 million in net income on almost $1.2 billion in sales during the September-November opening quarter of the fiscal year.
In a statement, Micron blamed the decline on significantly lower average selling prices for its principal semiconductor memory product, the 4 Meg DRAM, and the volume of memory sold was off 12 percent because of rising inventories caused in part by changes in purchasing and management strategies of its major customers.