Micron share buyback authorization reaches $35.16 billion after October decision
Key Facts
Micron's total share repurchase authorization reached $35.16 billion under a board decision on October 8, 2026, according to its annual report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The decision expands repurchase authority under the previous program, which had about $2.16 billion remaining at the end of fiscal 2026. A reconciliation table in the annual report listed $33,025 million as the basis for the increase in authorization, within the company's fiscal fourth-quarter disclosures. The decision sets a new ceiling for the program, while purchases executed during the fiscal year remain a separate item in its disclosures on cash uses. The board's decision came in early October, following quarterly results that exceeded the company's guidance ranges for revenue and adjusted earnings per share.
Micron reported fiscal fourth-quarter 2026 revenue of $54,229 million in its earnings release, exceeding its previous guidance for the period. In its fiscal third-quarter earnings release, the company had set a revenue target for the following quarter of $50.0 billion, plus or minus $1.0 billion. Adjusted diluted earnings per share reached $33.42 in the fiscal fourth quarter, according to the earnings release, also exceeding the previous guidance range. That guidance had put adjusted diluted earnings per share at $31.00, plus or minus $1.00 per share for the same period. The quarter's results thus exceeded the upper end of management's ranges for both sales and adjusted earnings per share set when it announced the previous quarter's results.
Micron attributed its performance in the earnings release to "AI-driven demand and strong operational execution," identifying those two factors as supporting its business during the period. In its fiscal fourth-quarter 2026 operating breakdown, the Cloud Memory Business Unit generated revenue of $16,283 million, according to figures in the release. The Core Data Center Business Unit recorded revenue of $18,002 million in the same fiscal quarter, ahead of the Cloud Memory Business Unit in reported revenue. Companywide quarterly operating income under U.S. GAAP was $43,751 million, according to the fiscal fourth-quarter earnings release. Full-year fiscal 2026 results included U.S. GAAP net income of $84,969 million, according to the annual earnings release.
On cash flow, Micron reported adjusted free cash flow of $62.31 billion for the full fiscal year 2026, according to the earnings release. The company also reported net capital expenditure of $27.37 billion for the same fiscal year, alongside its annual adjusted free cash flow. On financing, the company received $12.75 billion in customer deposits tied to strategic agreements, according to details in its annual report. Micron classified those proceeds as cash flows from financing activities for fiscal 2026, describing them as deposits related to customer contract obligations with the company. Annual cash movements thus combined adjusted free cash flow and net capital expenditure with financing proceeds from the company's strategic agreements with customers.
Micron spent $650 million on executed share repurchases during fiscal 2026, according to its annual report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Cumulative purchases under the previous authorization reached $7.84 billion by fiscal year-end, in a disclosure separate from the October decision to raise the program's ceiling. On financial obligations, the company repaid $10.04 billion in debt during the same fiscal year, according to payment details in the annual report. The carrying value of Micron's remaining debt was $5.18 billion at the end of fiscal 2026, according to the SEC filing. Annual cash uses thus included debt repayments and share repurchases, alongside the capital expenditure the company reported in its fiscal-year results.
For the next stage following the board's decision, direct funding agreements tied to the CHIPS Act permit purchases under the expanded authorization from December 9, 2026. That date establishes when purchases are permitted under the agreements, without committing Micron to begin buying shares that day. Ahead of that date, the company announced an investor technology seminar on October 21, 2026, according to an announcement on its investor relations website. Micron set the seminar's start time at 8 a.m. U.S. Mountain Time in its announced schedule for the investor event. The company said Scott DeBoer would lead the technology seminar scheduled for that day, making it the next announced investor event following its results and the decision to expand the authorization.