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Micron (MU) slides even as Q2 results, guidance blow past forecasts on AI strength. (00:13) AI drone firm Swarmer (SWMR) jumps 1,000% in two days. (01:41) Trump: Israel hit Iran gas field, no US/Qatar role; warns against Qatar attacks. (02:56)
This is an abridged transcript.
Micron Technology (MU) is down 5.2% in premarket action even after reporting fiscal second-quarter results and guidance that topped Wall Street’s estimates by a wide margin.
Shares have jumped more than 46% year-to-date and more than 350% over the past 12 months.
For the period ending Feb. 26, Micron said it earned an adjusted $12.20 per share as revenue soared 196.4% year-over-year to $23.86B.
Analysts had expected the company to earn an adjusted $8.66 per share on $19.74B in revenue.
Looking ahead to the second quarter, Micron said it expects to earn between $18.75 and $19.55 per share on an adjusted basis, while revenue is expected to be between $32.75B and $34.25B. Analysts had expected the company to earn an adjusted $11.29 per share on $23.66B in revenue.
Seeking Alpha analyst Julia Ostian said the magnitude of the guidance compared to the estimates is “practically unheard of.”
“These results from Micron confirm that the memory industry is currently in a significant shortage, despite what the bears were claiming heading into earnings.” She goes on to say, “The shortage isn’t getting better. In fact, companies believe it could continue through 2030, even though just a few months ago, 2027 looked like a more realistic timeframe for an improvement.”
Shares of AI drone software company Swarmer (SWMR) have jumped 1,000% in just two days, marking the strongest U.S. stock debut in nearly a year.
The two-day rally reflects rising investor interest in defense and autonomous, low-cost weapon systems.
Shares closed up 77% to $55.00 on Wednesday, after closing up 520% on Tuesday.
“You’re pretty much hitting some of the most important buzzwords in the market right now,” Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers, told Bloomberg. “Anything with artificial intelligence clearly gets people’s attention. And as we are literally engaged in drone warfare, drone defense companies are clearly another exciting field.”
The rally brings the company’s market value to nearly $680 million after its initial public offering.
Swarmer (SWMR) does not manufacture drones, but its AI technology can be used to deploy and coordinate drone swarms, like a flock of birds. Its platform has been used in Ukraine with more than 100,000 real-world missions in active combat since April 2024, according to a regulatory filing.
President Trump said late Wednesday that Israel was behind the attack on Iran’s South Pars gas field.
Trump also said Israel would not make any more attacks on Iranian facilities in South Pars but warned that the U.S. would attack those facilities if Iran acted against Doha.
“The United States knew nothing about this particular attack, and the country of Qatar was in no way, shape, or form, involved with it, nor did it have any idea that it was going to happen,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Israel has not publicly claimed responsibility for the South Pars attack. According to the Wall Street Journal and Axios, Trump knew of Israel’s plan to attack the Iranian part of the world’s largest natural gas deposit in advance and supported it. Iran shares the South Pars field with Qatar, a close U.S. ally.
We’ll take a look at crude oil futures in a few minutes.
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Notable investor events include Viatris’ (VTRS) investor meeting, Hillman Solutions’ (HLMN) Investor Day, LandBridge Company’s (LB) Investor Day, and Box’s (BOX) Financial Analyst Day
Dow, S&P and Nasdaq futures are in the red. Crude oil is up 2.6% at $98. Bitcoin is down 1.2% at $70,000. Gold is down 2.2% at $4,711.
The FTSE 100 is down 1.7% and the DAX is down 2.2%.
The biggest movers for the day premarket: Five Below (FIVE) +8% – Shares surged after the retailer posted a strong Q4 beat, with revenue rising 24.5% Y/Y to $1.73B and comparable sales jumping 15.3%, well above expectations.
Economic calendar: