Experienced manufacturer of computer storage products Micron technology (MU -3.83%) did not exactly have a brilliant start on the stock market this week. The company’s shares ended the day almost 4% lower after an analyst covering the company lowered his price target. This decline was significantly steeper than the 0.3% decline in the S&P500 Index.

A $10 haircut

The expert who made the cut was Quinn Bolton of Needham. Before the market opened on Monday, Bolton cut his price target for Micron to $140 per share from $150. But that wasn’t enough to change the recommendation, as the analyst maintained his buy rating.

The adjustment came immediately after Needham’s annual semiconductor industry conference. During the event, Micron management indicated that shipments of its memory products would remain essentially flat in the first fiscal quarter of 2025 (which is scheduled to begin in September). Micron had originally forecast that overall shipments would “increase slightly,” Bolton said.

The analyst added in his latest research note: “Management also stated that the company is moving away from short-term deals with aggressive pricing and that customer demand has weakened given the inventory increases earlier this year.”

However, the current quarter still looks good

This new fact was the main factor in lowering the price target. Bolton now believes that Micron may not meet analyst consensus estimates. However, he and his colleagues generally expect a successful fourth quarter of fiscal 2024. On average, they expect robust revenue growth (71%) year-over-year to $6.84 billion. They also forecast earnings of $1.02 per share versus a loss of $1.07 in the same quarter of fiscal 2023.