Micron is one of those listed companies that can be viewed in two radically different ways. The first, optimistic approach, recalls that the American group operates in an oligopoly with Korea's Samsung and SK Hynix, and that in the age of "super-computing", demand for its products can only increase.

The second, less enthusiastic way, is to point out that its hyper-capital-intensive business has hitherto left it scarcely in a position to return much capital to its shareholders. Once again this year, all operating cash flow has been consumed by capital expenditure. However, the Group has been easing up on capital expenditure for several quarters now.

The problem is structural: over the last ten years, Micron has generated an aggregate free cash flow three times less than the sum of its accounting results. To which optimists will object that, in the meantime, sales have doubled-despite the inherent volatility-and market capitalization has quadrupled.

On a clearly positive note, the fiscal year just ended marks a normalization after the profound disruptions caused by the pandemic. Between 2022 and 2023, the Group had gone from an operating profit of $9.7 billion to a dry loss of $5.5 billion. Fragile hearts abstain.

The year 2025 looks set to be a good one. Customer inventories are said to have returned to balanced levels, leading to a recovery in prices and gross margins towards their historical average. Better still, management claims to be entering the period in the best competitive position in its history.

Operating margins remained under pressure over the past twelve months, but with the upturn in business and the Group's strong operating leverage, analysts are forecasting earnings per share of over $10 by the end of 2026 , fifteen times higher than this year's earnings per share.

In addition to subscribing to these forecasts, shareholders comfortable with the current valuation are betting that Micron has now reached a comfortable scale, from which it can pivot its management towards more sustained returns of capital to shareholders than in the past.