MU and BB Stocks: A Closer Look at Recent Movements and Earnings Reports
The latest trading session saw BlackBerry (BB) ending at $2.96, a decrease of 1.66% from the previous day. This decline was in contrast to the S&P 500, which rose by 0.25%, the Dow’s 0.17% increase, and the Nasdaq’s 0.23% gain. Despite this dip, BlackBerry’s stock has seen a 7.5% increase over the past month, although this is still behind the Computer and Technology sector’s gain of 11.73% and slightly ahead of the S&P 500’s 7.08% increase.
BlackBerry’s upcoming earnings release is eagerly anticipated by investors. The company is expected to report an EPS of -$0.04, marking a 166.67% decline from the previous year’s quarter. For the entire year, Zacks Consensus Estimates forecast earnings of -$0.03 per share and revenue of $615 million, reflecting changes of -160% and -27.9%, respectively, compared to the previous year. Notably, recent revisions to analyst estimates for BlackBerry suggest an optimistic outlook for the company’s business trends, aligning with Zacks Rank’s actionable rating model that currently rates BlackBerry as #1 (Strong Buy).
In the broader context, BlackBerry operates within the Computer – Software industry, which is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry ranks in the top 22% of all industries, based on the Zacks Industry Rank, which measures the strength of industry groups by the average Zacks Rank of individual stocks within the groups.
In recent after-hours trading, BlackBerry saw a near 7% increase following its fiscal Q1 earnings report, which surpassed forecasts. The company reported a loss of $42 million in its fiscal first quarter, translating to a loss of 7 cents per share. For the current quarter ending in August, BlackBerry projects results ranging from a loss of 4 cents per share to a loss of 2 cents per share. The company also announced the election of seven nominees to its board of directors at its annual and special meeting of shareholders.
On the other hand, Micron Technology (MU) has been in the spotlight as investors awaited its quarterly earnings report, driven by the growing artificial intelligence (AI) sector and increasing demand for memory solutions. Micron’s fiscal third-quarter earnings results exceeded expectations, with adjusted earnings of $0.62 per share (expected $0.50 per share) and $6.81 billion in revenue (expected $6.67 billion). Despite closing slightly higher during regular trading hours, Micron’s shares experienced a dip in after-hours trading.
Analysts project Micron to report revenue of $6.7 billion for the quarter, an 80% jump from a year ago, primarily driven by pricing power and a recovery in demand for PCs and smartphones. This reflects the broader trend of increased interest and outperformance in the chip sector, largely fueled by AI adoption. Micron’s performance is indicative of the overall health of the chip industry, with significant interest in the company’s role in AI-driven demand.
Micron’s stock has seen substantial gains, with a rise of over 72% year-to-date in 2024. This has been driven by optimism around the company’s AI-related prospects and its role in providing high bandwidth memory chips for AI applications, particularly for NVIDIA’s Hopper 200 chip.
In summary, both BlackBerry and Micron Technology have been key players in their respective sectors, with significant movements in their stock prices reflecting broader industry trends and company-specific developments. BlackBerry’s positive earnings surprise and Micron’s strong performance in the AI-driven chip market highlight the dynamic nature of the technology sector and the varied opportunities for investors.