Micron posts record $54.23 billion quarter on AI memory

Micron Technology reported record fiscal fourth-quarter and full-year results on Wednesday, with quarterly revenue of $54.23 billion, up from $41.46 billion in the prior quarter and $11.32 billion a year earlier, the memory maker said in its earnings release. For fiscal 2026, which ended Sept. 3, revenue was $133.19 billion, compared with $37.38 billion the year before.

The numbers as Micron reports them: Fourth-quarter GAAP net income was $37.70 billion, or $32.87 per diluted share. On a non-GAAP basis it was $38.40 billion, or $33.42 a share. GAAP gross margin was 86.8% of revenue, up from 44.7% a year earlier. For the full year, GAAP net income was $84.97 billion, or $74.33 per diluted share. Operating cash flow was $43.97 billion for the quarter and $89.68 billion for the year. Micron ended the year with $73.48 billion in cash, marketable investments and restricted cash, and its board declared a quarterly dividend of 15 cents a share.

The AI link: Micron ties its business to AI, and the release says “AI-driven demand” positions it for the year ahead. “Micron delivered record fiscal 2026 results, and we expect an even stronger fiscal 2027,” Chairman and CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said in the release. “AI is becoming Super Intelligence (SI), and memory enhances this intelligence and the competitiveness of our customers’ platforms. We are increasing our investments in technology, products and manufacturing to help drive SI forward with our customers, and our Strategic Customer Agreements provide added confidence in the durability of Micron’s financial performance.”

The release does not break out revenue from high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, the stacked memory that feeds AI processors. In prepared remarks posted on its investor site, Micron said its HBM revenue “grew faster than total company revenue in the quarter” as it ramps shipments “across a growing number of customers.” The company said it has completed agreements for “the vast majority” of its calendar 2027 HBM supply “with significant price increases year over year.” It also said it continues “to execute well” on its ramp of HBM4 and is working with Nvidia on what Micron calls the industry’s first custom HBM4E, NVHBM, for Nvidia’s next-generation GPUs.

Micron’s two data-center units brought in the most revenue in the quarter. Core Data Center revenue was $18.00 billion, up from $1.58 billion a year earlier, and Cloud Memory revenue was $16.28 billion, up from $4.54 billion, according to the release.

What Micron expects: For the first quarter of fiscal 2027, Micron forecasts revenue of $61.5 billion, plus or minus $1.5 billion. It expects gross margin of about 85.95% on a GAAP basis (about 86.25% non-GAAP) and GAAP diluted earnings of $37.84 a share, plus or minus $1.00 ($38.15 non-GAAP). The release says AI demand and execution “position Micron for a record fiscal 2027.”

Who has a stake: AI chipmakers and cloud companies need Micron’s memory to build their systems. In its prepared remarks, Micron describes its strategic customer agreements as multi-year take-or-pay deals. Micron said in prepared remarks that it has signed 26 of those agreements and that its remaining performance obligations, the contract value of the agreements with set pricing terms, are approximately $150 billion. Shareholders get the dividend. Micron is also spending heavily: net capital expenditures were $10.77 billion in the quarter and $27.37 billion for the year, and the prepared remarks say Micron plans to raise fiscal 2027 capital spending above its prior plans.

What’s next: Whether Micron’s next quarterly report lands inside its $60 billion to $63 billion range. Whether the HBM4 ramp and the Nvidia custom-HBM work show up in the company’s own disclosures, and whether Micron ever reports an HBM revenue figure. Also watch the HBM advanced packaging plant in Singapore, where Micron says it expects initial output in early calendar 2027.

— Nico Valdez