Micron falls as the chipmaker announces big workforce reduction and gives dismal outlook

• Micron stock fell on Thursday after announcing plans for a big workforce reduction and giving weak guidance.
• Fiscal first-quarter results released late Wednesday also missed Wall Street forecasts.

Micron Technology stock fell on Thursday after the chipmaker announced a big workforce reduction, unveiled a dismal outlook for the current quarter, and missed views for last quarter.

After the close on Wednesday, the company warned of economic pressures next year and said it is trimming costs by suspending share buybacks, slashing bonuses, and planning to lay off 10% of its workforce.

Micron also projected fiscal second-quarter losses of 52-72 cents a share on revenue of $3.6 billion-$4 billion, while Wall Street sees a loss of 30 cents per share on $3.75 billion in sales.

That would follow weakness in the fiscal first quarter that ended December 1 as a per-share loss of 4 cents missed consensus views for a loss of 2 cents a share and revenue of $4.08 billion fell short of views for $4.14 billion.

Micron stock slumped 4.7% to to $48.80 on Thursday and has fallen about 50% from levels in January.

"We are taking decisive actions to cut our supply and expenses," Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said in a statement. "We expect improving customer inventories to enable higher revenue in the fiscal second half, and to deliver strong profitability once we get past this downturn."

Chip stocks have been beaten down this year by supply-chain imbalances that still remain in the market. In addition, consumers have dialed back their demand for electronics amid recession fears. That's a major headwind for the industry, particularly as inflation remains high and the Fed presses forward with its rate hikes, which have weighed on the tech sector overall.

Micron has already taken action to lower costs, announcing last month that it would slash production by 20%.