Company Update: Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) - Analysts Defend the Stock

(GLOBE NEWSWIRE) Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU), one of the world's leading providers of advanced semiconductor solutions, today announced the availability of the evaluation version of the Automata Processor (AP) software development kit (SDK). With the new SDK, developers can design and test advanced applications in areas such as bioinformatics, video/image analytics, and network security, which require high performance, computational efficiency and highly parallel processing capabilities. Read the full story here.Stock PerformanceTaking a look at the company’s recent performance, Micron Technology, Inc. (MU) reported second quarter earnings for fiscal 2014 on September 25th. The company reported actual earnings per share of $0.82 against the consensus Street estimate of $0.80. This represents year over year growth of 48.7%. MU posted revenue of $4.23 billion.The stock is currently valued at $36.22 billion and closed the last trading session at $31.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $31.94 and a 200-day moving average of $31.44.

Is it a Buying Opportunity for MU?There are currently twenty-seven analysts that we track that cover the stock. Of those twenty-seven, eighteen have a Buy rating, five have a hold rating, one has a Sell rating, and three have a Strong Buy rating. On a consensus basis this yields a score of 2.85 and a Buy rating. The combined price objective of these covering analysts is $35.93.The most recent analyst activity consisted of Ladenburg Thalmann intitating coverage today with a Neutral rating and $32.50 price target. Yesterday, Goldman Sachs also weighed in on Micron. Goldman reiterated their Neutral rating as well and did not provide a price objective. One of the most bullish research firms on the stock is Zacks who have a $41 price target on the stock and an Outperform rating.Company ProfileMicron Technology, Inc.(NASDAQ:MU) is a global manufacturer and marketer of semiconductor devices, principally NAND Flash, DRAM and NOR Flash memory, as well as other memory technologies, packaging solutions and semiconductor systems for use in computing, consumer, networking, automotive, industrial, embedded and mobile products. In addition, the Company manufactures semiconductor components for CMOS images sensors and other semiconductor products. The Company operates in four segments: NAND Solutions Group (NSG), DRAM Solutions Group (DSG), Wireless Solutions Group (WSG) and Embedded Solutions Group (ESG). The Company's product include NAND Flash Memory, Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) and NOR Flash Memory. The Company's manufacturing facilities are located in the United States, China, Israel, Italy, Malaysia, Puerto Rico and Singapore.