Micron Technology

MU-Q

A chip company that performed quite well this year. Longer term investors have to be comfortable with the cyclicality in the space. There is more positive sentiment in the space right now but he likes more consistent earners, although there are arguments for owning some of the US chips.

Micron has been slammed 15% lately. Micron reduced guidance a little, but managers can handle cyclicality, and they have a good mix of products. $58 is his target.

Immune from tariff war? They are known for their storage sector assets. The growth in data storage is enormous. The capacity requirements are growing and will continue to do so. He is unsure that China could still not be a threat to them. There may be other factors at play. Watch it and keep on your radar.

They were upgraded today, maybe from RBC. He owns MU's peers. MU, even after its recent run, remains pretty cheap. It trades below 8x forward earnings. They sell memory worldwide.

It's done poorly this year, because it's a semi producer due to the China trade war. 30% of their business lies in smartphone memory, so if the trade war gets drastic (which he doubts), MU will get hit. The market is pricing no growth. PE is low-single-digit. This is a $60 stock, really. 5G will drive this as people upgrade their phones. This can easily rise 10-15% in a market rally. It may be early to enter it now, though. The mass-market shift to 5G will happen in 2020-1.

Inventories have been a problem. There is exponential growth in cloud storage demand, but it doesn't mean there won't be cyclical issues. He would take a pass for now. Give it time.

Semis reflect the general economy. Last year they peaked out early, but definitely improving since the start of the year. Semis have recently broken to new highs. Hold this, because it will go higher through this new cycle into 2021/2022.

It is highly cyclical so is never a hold. It is being driven by data centers right now. The recent numbers were a little disappointing so he would sell and get into something more solid like a Broadcom.

He owns it indirectly in an ETF, the SOXX. Only a 2-3% position, because there's no clarity on the future of the memory chip market. Micron warned back in January, then Samsung warned.

A big semis name that got taken to the woodshed due to slowing smartphone growth. There's huge memory demand growth but also existing supply in inventory in this sector and Micron's. Give it time.

This is a decent long-term play, but, if short-term, then set a lower price target of a 15% gain and sell.

The CEO last week said second-half earnings will increase sharply. Their cash position has improved dramatically and they are now trading at 5 times earnings. Too cheap to ignore. Yield 0%. (Analysts’ price target is $47.30)

A leader in the digital side of chips. Target price of $77, now $34. It's extremely discounted.

He has sworn off semiconductor stocks. A soon as there is a glut of chips, the price falls off. You need to be in an industry where you can't have such sudden increases in supply.

Memory chips. Margins used to be fantastic. The semis and memory manufacturers are a great long term investment. He is on board. They are doing a good job. He would not buy it today because it does not check the technical box. You are in a negative earnings revision cycle.