Micron expands share-buyback authorization by $33 billion

what happened

Micron Technology’s board has approved an additional $33 billion for share repurchases, taking the company’s total authorization to $35.16 billion. MarketWatch reported that TD Cowen analyst Krish Sankar views the move as an effort to demonstrate that Micron is more willing to return cash to shareholders than South Korea’s SK Hynix, which has authorized roughly $29 billion in buybacks.

Micron received funding under the Chips and Science Act in 2024 and therefore cannot repurchase shares until December of this year. Sankar had expected an authorization of about $20 billion. He noted that the current program remains below Micron’s roughly $47 billion in gross profit from its latest quarter alone, leaving room for additional buybacks later.

The analyst said long-term agreements are improving visibility into customer demand, although memory pricing could begin to weaken in the third quarter of 2027. Nvidia no longer accounts for more than 10% of Micron’s quarterly revenue, as it did during the six quarters through Micron’s fiscal second quarter, because other customers are growing faster. Micron shares fell more than 4% Monday morning amid a broader chip-sector decline. MarketWatch also linked the move to reports of progress by China’s CXMT on memory products using 4F square cell architecture.

why it matters

The larger authorization highlights competition for shareholder capital among memory-chip producers. At the same time, possible pricing pressure from the third quarter of 2027 and progress by CXMT add uncertainty for the sector’s valuation and competitive outlook.

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