Micron Technology Shares Plunged: What You Need to Know

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of memory chip specialist Micron Technology (NAS: MU) sank 12% on Friday after its quarterly results came in well below Wall Street expectations.

So what: Micron's fourth-quarter was such a shock -- the company posted a loss of $0.14 per share versus the consensus estimate of a $0.02 profit -- that investors are naturally starting to worry if the downturn in DRAM chips, used in PCs, is a lot worse than previously thought. In fact, the stock is hitting a new 52-week low on the news and has been slashed by more than half over the past six months alone.

Now what: I'd cautiously look into this pullback as a possible entry point. While the DRAM market continues to experience anemic growth, NAND chips -- used in smart phones and digital music players -- are still serving as a much-needed bright spot for Micron. With the stock now sporting a single-digit P/E, betting on the continued growth of NAND, as well as an eventual long-term DRAM turnaround, seems cheap enough to consider.

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At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributor Brian Pacampara owns no position in any of the companies mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Fool's disclosure policy always gets a perfect score.

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