Micron stock falls after UBS initiates with sell rating, warns of 'cyclical memory concerns'

Shares of Micron Technology Inc. MU, -5.46%are down 3.6% in Thursday trading after analysts at UBS initiated coverage of the stock with a sell rating. The analysts, led by Timothy Arcuri, have a negative view of Micron due to "cyclical memory concerns and big estimate cuts." Arcuri's initiated coverage of Micron along with other companies in the semiconductor industry.

In general, he wrote: The supply chain has struggled to keep inventory growing anywhere close to revenue growth during the past 4Qs and the entirety of C2017. This had helped fuel a very favorable cyclical backdrop for the sector with respect to both revenue and margins, but this factor is rapidly waning and will likely shift to more of a headwind moving through C2018, especially in 2H:18." Arcuri initiated coverage of Broadcom Ltd. AVGO, +1.30%Marvell Technology Group Ltd. MRVL, +1.59%and KLA-Tencor Corp. KLAC, +1.10%with buy ratings. He assigned a sell rating to Texas Instruments Inc. TXN, -1.50%Shares of Micron are up 79% over the past 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 13% in that time and the PHLX Semiconductor Index SOX, -0.26%has risen 32%.