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Dickens, Great Expectations, and lay on the floor
A vintage engraving of a scene from “Great Expectations” — and how Micron investors are feeling (FA Fraser/Getty Images)

Micron blew the lights out on earnings, so why is the stock dropping?

After a relentless rise into the print, a stunning beat — 21% on revenue and 36% on adjusted EPS — wasn’t quite enough to keep the momentum going.

For a company of its size, Micron delivered one of the most stunning beats in recent memory yesterday, with shades of Nvidia in the early days of the AI boom, as revenue came in 21% ahead of Bloomberg-compiled analyst estimates and adjusted earnings per share beat by 36%.

Indeed, as our colleague Luke Kawa wrote, the AI growth torch passed from GPUs to memory, with Micron notching 196% annual revenue growth in Q2.

And yet, as of 6:52 a.m. ET, Micron is trading a touch over $435 a share, down more than 5% from yesterdays closing price. Fellow memory stock peer Sandisk isnt faring any better, down 5.4%.

Some pundits on Wall Street might rush to point out higher capital expenditure and minimal further upside to gross margins as reasons that the stock is in the red. And while it is true that Micron now expects capital spending to exceed $25 billion this fiscal year — analysts had only forecast $22.4 billion — it takes some remarkable gymnastics to believe that a ~10% capex bump is the reason for softness in the share price, especially when the company has also forecast Q3 revenue of $33.5 billion at the midpoint of its range, some 41% ahead of the $23.7 billion analyst estimate.

A simpler explanation is that red-hot Micron has roughly doubled since mid-December, has risen 283% since July 1 of last year, and is now bigger than Netflix and Costco, and that the buy sides expectations were just maybe a little more elevated than those on the sell side.

Micron and sandisk returns
Sherwood News

Longer-term concerns about how long the memory supply crunch might last and whether Micron can sign more multiyear deals (the company has only signed one, so far) could also be playing on the minds of investors. And, of course, it doesnt help that equities generally got hammered yesterday as concerns about inflation and the global supply of oil weighed on risk assets.

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Lululemon’s stretch getting tested: Stock plunges after after outlook is cut

Lululemon shares are down double digits in premarket trading after the company cut its full-year sales and profit outlook, overshadowing a Q1 beat and raising fresh concerns about the brand’s turnaround efforts.

The company now expects fiscal 2026 revenue to be flat to down 1%, compared with its prior forecast for 2% to 4% growth. Guidance for full-year diluted earnings per share was dragged down to a range of $10.95 to $11.15, below the company’s previous guidance of $12.10 to $12.30 and well below Wall Street’s estimate of $13.26.

Key numbers for Q1:

  • EPS of $1.69 vs. the $1.68 expected.

  • Revenue of $2.47 billion vs. the $2.43 billion expected.

The modest top-line beat masked a widening divergence between Lululemons geographic markets. While international revenue rose 22% overall with a 30% increase in Mainland China, the bigger problem remains North America, where revenue fell 5%.

Interim co-CEO and CFO Meghan Frank acknowledged during the earnings call that recent product rollouts underperformed. A highly anticipated yoga campaign failed to generate its expected halo effect across broader product lines.

Profitability metrics took a major hit, with gross margins contracting by 410 basis points to 54.2% due to mounting tariff costs and promotional markdowns. Operating income consequently fell 37% year over year to $276.9 million.

“We experienced spikes of negative commentary in the media and on social channels with regard to our brand, which had an impact on traffic and overall top-line performance,” Frank said during the earnings call. “And second, not all of our product launches have met our expectations. While we have had several successful launches so far this year, we have seen others as we start Q2 not generate the anticipated guest response.”

Lululemons valuation has already been steadily compressing for years. While it was once one of retails richly valued stocks, investors have been questioning whether the company can return to the double-digit growth era.

The results also arrive during a leadership transition. Lululemon announced back in April that former Nike executive Heidi ONeill is set to take over as CEO in September, with investors looking to her to revive growth in North America and restore the brands growth.

As Lululemon faces both macroeconomic pressure and brand-specific challenges, its stock has dropped around 40% year to date.

markets

US job growth skyrocketed in May, blasting past expectations

The US economy added 172,000 jobs in the month of May, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, sending 10-year Treasury yields higher.

The strong May job market surprised economists. Experts had predicted only 85,000 new jobs — just half the reported number. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.3%, as expected.

The job growth story is a hopeful spot for the economy as consumers continue to feel inflationary pressure from the Iran war.

Job gains were buoyed by the leisure and hospitality sector, which added 70,000 jobs, as well as local government, healthcare, and education.

Both the March and April jobs reports were revised upward, making them collectively 93,000 higher than previously reported.

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