Quarterly earnings results are a good time to check the company’s progress, especially compared to its peers in the same sector. Today we look at Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) and the top and worst performers in the semiconductor industry.
The semiconductor industry is driven by cyclical demand for advanced electronic products such as smartphones, personal computers, servers and data storage. While analog chips serve as the building blocks of most electronic goods and equipment, CPUs and graphics chips serve as their brains. The growth of data and technologies such as artificial intelligence, 5G, the Internet of Things and smart cars are creating the next wave of secular growth for the industry.
The 41 semiconductor stocks we track had a mixed Q4; on average, revenue beat analysts’ consensus estimates by 1.5%. while revenue guidance for the next quarter was 3.9% below consensus. Stocks, especially growth stocks where cash flows further into the future are more important to the story, had a good end to 2023. However, early 2024 saw mixed data on inflation, leading to a more volatile stock performance, and semiconductor stocks held roughly steady amid it all, with share prices rising an average of 3.5% after previous earnings results.
Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU)
Founded in the basement of a dentist’s office in Boise, Idaho in 1978, Micron (NYSE:MU) is a leading supplier of memory chips used in thousands of devices in the mobile, data center, industrial, consumer and automotive markets.
Micron Technology reported revenue of $5.82 billion, up 57.7% year-over-year, beating analysts’ expectations by 8.8%. It was a stunning quarter for the company, with a significant improvement in its gross margin and an impressive beat on analyst EPS estimates.
Shares rose 26.9% after the results and are currently trading at $122.14.
Is Now the Time to Buy Micron Technology? Access our full analysis of earnings results here, it’s free.
Best Q4: Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA)
Founded in 1993 by Jensen Huang and two former Sun Microsystems engineers, Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) is a leading designer of chips used in gaming, computing, data centers, automotive and various end markets.
Nvidia reported revenue of $22.1 billion, up 265% year-over-year, beating analysts’ expectations by 7.6%. It was a stunning quarter for the company with a significant increase in revenue, strong gross margin improvement and EPS beating Wall Street estimates. Guidance for the next quarter was also good, with revenue, gross margin and implied operating profit beating expectations.
Nvidia posted the fastest revenue growth among its peers. Shares rose 29.1% after the results and are currently trading at $871.44.
Is now the time to buy Nvidia? Access our full analysis of earnings results here, it’s free.
Weakest Q4: Texas Instruments (NASDAQ:TXN)
Headquartered in Dallas, Texas since 1950, Texas Instruments (NASDAQ:TXN) is the world’s largest analog semiconductor manufacturer.
Texas Instruments reported revenue of $4.08 billion, down 12.7% year over year, below analysts’ expectations of 1.4%. It was a weak quarter for the company, with unfavorable revenue guidance for the next quarter and missing analysts’ revenue estimates.
Shares fell 2.9% after the results and are currently trading at $169.26.
Read our full analysis of Texas Instruments’ results here.
Phototronics (NASDAQ:PLAB)
With a global facility footprint, Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) is a manufacturer of photomasks, templates used to transfer patterns onto semiconductor wafers.
Photronics reported revenue of $216.3 million, up 2.5% year over year, below analysts’ expectations of 1.7%. It was a weak quarter for the company, missing analysts’ revenue and EPS estimates.
Shares fell 10.4% after the results and are currently trading at $28.
Read our full, actionable report on Photronics here, it’s free.
Himax (NASDAQ:HIMX)
Taiwan-based Himax Technologies (NASDAQ: HIMX ) is a leading manufacturer of display driver chips and timing controllers used in televisions, laptops and mobile phones.
Himax reported revenue of $227.7 million, down 13.2% year over year, in line with analyst expectations. It was a very strong quarter for the company with a significant improvement in inventory levels.
Shares fell 4.3% after the results and are currently trading at $5.4.
Read our full, actionable report on Himax here, it’s free.
Join a paid survey of stock investors
Help us make StockStory more useful for investors like you. Join our paid user research session and receive a $50 Amazon gift card for your opinion. Register here.
