Tech

Micron shares tumble after chipmaker says Trump's China tariffs will hit profitability

Key Points
  • Micron Technology shares fell 5 percent in Friday's premarket session, a day after CFO David Zinsner said that the company's gross margins would suffer due to President Donald Trump's latest round of tariffs on Chinese imports.
  • Micron also gave weak future guidance for revenue and earnings per share compared to what analysts had estimated.
  • Shares initially rose more than 4 percent after-hours following the release of the company's fourth-quarter earnings report.
The headquarters building of Micron Technology Inc. stands in Boise, Idaho, U.S.
Matthew Staver | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Micron Technology shares fell 5 percent in Friday's premarket session, a day after CFO David Zinsner said that the semiconductor company's gross margins would suffer due to President Donald Trump's latest round of tariffs on Chinese imports.

"Our gross margins will also be impacted in the near term by the announced 10 percent tariff on $200 billion of imports from China which will go into effect on September 24," Zinsner said. "We are working to gradually mitigate most of the impact from these tariffs over the next three to four quarters."

Micron jumps on earnings, revenue beat
VIDEO1:5501:55
Micron jumps on earnings, revenue beat

President Trump announced the 10 percent tariff on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports on Monday, and the rate is set to increase to 25 percent at the end of the year. Just over 50 percent of Micron's revenue is from China.

Micron also gave weak future guidance for revenue and earnings per share compared to what analysts had estimated. The company expects future quarterly revenue between $7.9 billion and $8.3 billion, while analysts had estimated $8.45 billion in revenue. The company estimates future earnings per share of $2.95, plus or minus 7 cents, which is lower than the $3.04 per share analysts expected.

Micron shares initially rose more than 4 percent after-hours following the release of the company's fourth-quarter earnings report that beat expectations on the top and bottom lines. The stock closed at $46.06 per share.