Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) continues to fly. What’s more is there could be even more upside to the stock in the coming months. The stock is already up more than 40% year-to-date, but its pending acquisition of Elpida could send the stock even higher.
The approval to acquire the assets of bankrupt Elpida is one of Micron’s biggest short-term catalysts that could push the stock higher. The addition of Elpida’s assets will add 45% to Micron’s 300 million total wafer capacity.
Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) is a global manufacturer and marketer of semiconductor devices, namely NAND flash, DRAM and NOR flash memory solutions. The company is already one of the largest memory makers, ranking among the top five suppliers in the world. Its products are used in an increasingly broad range of electronic devices, including personal computers, network servers, mobile phones, digital still cameras, MP3 players and other consumer-electronics products.
The DRAM market has seen pressures due to increasing competition for PCs. Micron, however, is turning to the higher growth potential flash-memory business, which will be driven by increases in the Ultrabook and solid state drive demand increases.
I see the attempt to diversify beyond DRAM as a long-term positive, as does the market. DRAM was previously Micron’s majority of revenue, but as of 2012, memory revenue stacked up as follows: 46% from NAND flash sales, 38% from DRAM and 18% from other segments. The NAND market continues to show robust growth as new consumer electronics and handheld devices drive demand higher.
Some 31 hedge funds were long Micron’s stock at the end of 2012, an 11% change from the previous quarter.
Semis
The semiconductor market has had investors on a roller coaster type of a ride over the past few years due to end-market demand changes and price wars. The semiconductor industry is chock full of well know manufacturers, all offering investors their own respective growth stories, all with different angles.
Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) is one of the world’s largest suppliers of equipment for the fabrication of semiconductor, flat panel liquid crystal displays (LCDs), and solar photovoltaic (PV) cells. Last quarter, Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) saw a 44% increase in total orders from the prior quarter, on the back of an 84% rise in semiconductor orders.
Applied has some robust hedge fund interest, most notable from Sandy Nairn’s Edinburgh Partners, which had the most valuable position in the company at the end of 2012, worth close to $187 million and comprising 10.6% of its total 13F portfolio.
Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI) is the second-largest producer of analog chips after Texas Instruments Incorporated (NASDAQ:TXN), with a strong position in high performance analog (HPA). Within this segment, Analog has a leading market position in converters, where it has around half the market share. However, the company has vast exposure to the industrial market, which accounted for 45% of 2012 revenue.
ARM Holdings plc (ADR) (NASDAQ:ARMH) designs high performance RISC microprocessors and related technology and software, and sells development systems to enhance the performance, cost-effectiveness and power-efficiency of an extensive range of embedded applications. ARM appears to be a bit expensive from a valuation perspective, trading with a price-to-earnings ratio that’s a 470% premium to the S&P 500 P/E, while the five-year average is closer to 310%.
