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Micron comes up short
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March 16, 1998: 6:47 p.m. ET
Chip maker and computer retail unit both post disappointing 2Q results
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Semiconductor maker Micron Technology Inc. and its computer retail subsidiary Micron Electronics Inc. blamed disappointing second-quarter earnings on pricing pressures from Asian competitors.
After Monday's closing bell, Boise, Idaho-based Micron Technology reported a fiscal second-quarter loss of $48 million, or 23 cents a diluted share, on sales of $755 million.
Those results are substantially below analysts' estimates of a 17 cent loss. Micron (MU) shares closed up 3/4 to 33-3/4 but slid to 33-3/8 in after-hours trading.
In the year-ago quarter, Micron reported net income of $142.7 million, or 68 cents a diluted share, on sales of $876.2 million.
Micron manufactures a variety of memory chips used in personal computers.
The company's semiconductor memory sales declined to $283 million from $440 million a year ago, primarily because of lower memory prices but also because of a slowdown in unit sales.
Micron Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President Steve Appleton said Asian competitors recently found guilty of selling their chips below cost, a practice known as dumping, severely cut into the company's bottom line.
Early this month, the Commerce Department levied preliminary anti-dumping margins of 7.61 percent on dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips produced by LG Semicon Co. Ltd. and 12.64 percent on Hyundai Electronics Industries Co. Ltd.
The U.S. Commerce Department's ruling followed an evaluation of the sales of the two chipmakers between May 1996 and April 1997. The final ruling is expected sometime in July.
Micron Electronics reported net income of $24.8 million, or 26 cents a diluted share, on sales of $494.8 million. That compares with a profit of $27.8 million, or 30 cents a diluted share, on sales of $510.2 million a year ago.
Those numbers include a pre-tax gain of $156.2 million, or 99 cents a share, from the sale of Micron's interest in MCMS Inc., a custom manufacturing unit. Excluding the one-time gain, the company would have reported a loss of $69.7 million, or 73 cents a diluted share.
Micron Electronics (MUEI) closed up 1/16 at 11-13/16. 
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Micron
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