Net earnings for Micron's fiscal 2006 first quarter were $63 million, or 9 cents a share - a penny better than analysts expected - though down sharply compared with $154.9 million, or 23 cents a share of a year earlier.
However, revenues topped $1.36 billion, up from $1.26 billion a year ago.
Boise-based Micron, which employs about 500 Utahns at its sprawling Traverse Ridge complex, has said the Utah County complex likely would add 200 to 300 jobs in 2007 due to a new, joint $500 million deal with Intel Corp. to provide flash memory for Apple's iPods.
Current employees of the 10-year-old memory production plant are primarily product testers. The $700 million, 2,100-acre, 12-building plant campus was built for a work force of 6,000.
Micron officials avoided specifics on the iPod memory deal's impact on Lehi operations, though they were cautiously upbeat.
Spokesman Dan Francisco said the flash memory contract must first be accepted by government regulators. "We anticipate those approvals will be complete in January 2006. It's not appropriate to talk about more details until the venture has gone through" that.
Micron officials say they will first ramp up memory production at their Boise facilities, then a plant in Manassas, Va. Lehi's high-volume production capacity could be brought on line in early to mid 2007, depending on market demand.
Micron stock closed Wednesday at $14.14, up 43 cents or 3 percent. Trading ended as the earnings report was being detailed in an international Webcast; after-hours trading saw the stock drop 44 cents to $13.70 per share.
The company credited its broader product lines - especially flash memory chips used in a new generation of camera-cellular phones and digital music players - for beating analysts' expectations.
Chief Executive Steve Appleton said the earnings report showed the company's success in trying to reduce the impact of the up-and-down personal computer memory chip market on Micron's bottom line.
Specifically, the focus on newer, mobile memory products "significantly reduced the impact of a 15 percent decline" in prices for PC memory, he said.
