Shares of Micron Technology (MU) are on the rise after the company reported better than expected fourth quarter results. However, the stock opened the trading day in negative territory on outlook concerns, with Wall Street analysts pointing out that the memory-chip maker's guidance raise was due to a change in some of its accounting practices.

RESULTS: Micron reported fourth quarter losses per share of (5c), which was better than expected with consensus at (8c). The company also announced fourth quarter revenue of $3.22B, above estimates of $3.19B. For the next quarter, Micron sees earnings per share between 13c-21c and revenue between $3.55B-3.85B, above consensus of 12c and $3.48B, respectively.

GUIDANCE MAY CAUSE DISAPPOINTMENT: Commenting on Micron's results, Deutsche Bank analyst Sidney Ho said he believes the company's guidance for the first quarter is likely to cause "investor confusion and disappointment" as the majority of the improvement comes from a change in accounting and non-GAAP calculation, rather than better pricing and margins. Nonetheless, the analyst noted that market conditions for both DRAM and NAND are improving, and said he believes Micron is poised to benefit as its new products continue to ramp, with margin expansion likely to follow. Ho reiterated a Buy rating and a $20 price target on the shares.

BUY ON WEAKNESS: Stifel analyst Kevin Cassidy also pointed out that Micron's non-GAAP earnings per share guidance has "some controversy," saying OpEx guidance is above his estimates due to one-time new product pre-qualification expense and a resumption of variable compensation expense, and noting that management has moved its DRAM equipment to a 7 year depreciation from 5 years. Cassidy believes this change is reasonable but does suggest that management's non-GAAP EPS guidance missed the consensus estimate when adjusted for the changes. However, the analyst told investors Micron delivered a "solid beat" to his expectations for the quarter and said he would be a buyer on any weakness as Micron's up cycle is only at its beginning. Cassidy reiterated a Buy rating on the stock and raised his price target to $22 from $20 on the shares.

POSITIVE READ-THROUGH: Following Micron's quarterly report and guidance, RBC Capital Amit Daryanani told investors in a note of his own that he sees positive read-through from the results for Applied Materials (AMAT), Lam Research (LRCX), ASML (ASML), Western Digital (WDC) and Intel (INTC ), given the continued 3D NAND spending and likely strong PC demand in the quarter. Additionally, the analyst noted that NAND pricing was down 1%, better than Street expectations for it to be down 7%, while overall industry bits are expected to grow high-30% to low-40% in 2017.

PRICE ACTION: In late morning trading, shares of Micron have gained 2.6% to $18.26.