March 20 (Reuters) - Micron Technology forecast third-quarter revenue and posted second-quarter revenue above Wall Street estimates on Thursday, signaling strong demand for its high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips used by the AI industry.

The company's shares rose 2.1% in after-hours trading, following a 9% increase earlier this month due to investor optimism around artificial intelligence-driven demand.

This demand has significantly boosted the need for Micron's HBM chips, a type of dynamic random access memory or DRAM standard essential for advanced AI systems, designed to save space and reduce power consumption.

Micron also offers flash memory NAND chips, serving the data storage market.

CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said Micron expects DRAM and NAND demand growth in both data center and consumer-oriented markets, along with a significantly improved profitability in fiscal year 2025.

Micron said it has not included the impact of potential new tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump in its forecast, "given the uncertainty around tariff timing, nature and implementation".

Trump's rapidly changing tariff policies, including numerous tariff threats since returning to office, have led to increasing concerns and unpredictability regarding the US economy.

Micron's "strong forecast, exceeding analyst expectations on both revenue and earnings, underscores their pivotal role in providing the essential memory components for AI infrastructure," said Michael Ashley Schulman, chief investment officer at Running Point Capital.

The company has been seeing inventory reductions at its PC and smartphone customers and expects a return to healthy levels by spring, following a buildup in anticipation of higher prices.

The company said it expects revenue of $8.80 billion, plus or minus $200 million for the third quarter, compared with an estimate of $8.5 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Revenue for the second quarter ending February 27 came in at $8.05 billion, beating the estimate of $7.89 billion.

Excluding items, earnings per share came in at $1.56, also above the estimate of $1.42 per share.