DRAM Chip Maker Micron Slips on Drop in Sales

Micron Technology (MU) - Get Report, a leading maker of DRAM chips, was down 5.4% in preopen Island trading after posting a 79% drop in fourth-quarter sales from the year-ago period.

Micron said its loss for the quarter, excluding charges, was 28 cents a share, narrower than the 33 cents expected by analysts, according to Thomson Financial/First Call.

Including charges, the company's loss was 96 cents a share, vs. net income of $1.28 a share in the year-ago period. Sales tumbled to $480.3 million from $2.31 billion.

The company said prices for its memory chips fell 55% from the third quarter and about 85% from a year ago.