In its fiscal 2026 results, announced on September 30, 2026, Micron reported revenue of $133.19 billion (about ¥20.9 trillion), 3.6 times the prior year. Net capital expenditure also nearly doubled, from $13.80 billion to $27.37 billion. Even so, it came to just 20.5% of revenue and 30.5% of operating cash flow, compared with 36.9% and 78.8% the previous year.
These figures suggest that the biggest factor shaping supply growth from new fabs due to start up by around 2028 is not financial strength but how long it takes to build cleanroom space. The evidence is the company's fab schedule. New front-end fabs are due to come online in stages from mid-2027 through 2030, and most of the increase in fiscal 2027 capex is earmarked for buildings.
Revenue up 3.6x in fiscal 2026, with a fourth-quarter non-GAAP gross margin of 87.0%
In the fourth quarter (14 weeks), which ended on September 3, 2026, revenue was $54.23 billion, well above $41.46 billion in the prior quarter and $11.32 billion a year earlier. The non-GAAP gross margin (a measure that excludes certain items) was 87.0%, and earnings per share were $33.42.
Revenue for the 53-week fiscal 2026 reached $133.19 billion, up 3.6 times from $37.38 billion in the 52-week prior year. The company describes this as a 256% increase. At ¥156.91 to the dollar (the Bank of Japan's midpoint of ¥156.90–92 published at 5 p.m. on September 30, 2026), that is about ¥20.9 trillion.
DRAM revenue in the fourth quarter was $39.8 billion, or 73% of the total. Revenue from data center SSDs was about $10 billion, more than 10 times the level a year earlier, and HBM revenue grew faster than the company average. Strategic customer agreements (SCAs, multiyear take-or-pay contracts) now number 26.
Micron expects industry DRAM bit shipments to grow in the low 20% range in each of 2027 and 2028. It also said supply will remain constrained in both years. Increasing supply capacity requires adding cleanroom space, the company explained, and it said it cannot currently see when supply and demand will return to balance.
For the next quarter, it forecasts revenue of $61.5 billion, plus or minus $1.5 billion, and a non-GAAP gross margin of about 86.25%.
Net capex nearly doubled but was still only 20.5% of revenue
Micron's reported net capex is capital spending minus proceeds from government incentives and equipment sales. In fiscal 2026 it was $27.37 billion (about ¥4.29 trillion), 1.98 times the prior year's $13.80 billion.
Gross capital spending before incentives was $30.71 billion, and government incentives brought in $3.32 billion. Measured against revenue and operating cash flow, however, the net capex ratios fell sharply.
| Metric | Fiscal 2025 (52 weeks) | Fiscal 2026 (53 weeks) |
|---|---|---|
| Net capex | $13.80 billion | $27.37 billion |
| Revenue | $37.38 billion | $133.19 billion |
| Operating cash flow | $17.53 billion | $89.68 billion |
| Net capex ÷ revenue | 36.9% | 20.5% |
| Net capex ÷ operating cash flow | 78.8% | 30.5% |
Net capex equaled 36.9% of revenue and 78.8% of operating cash flow in fiscal 2025, but those figures fell to 20.5% and 30.5% in fiscal 2026.
The main reason is that revenue and operating cash flow grew faster than capital spending. Revenue rose 3.6 times and operating cash flow 5.1 times, while net capex grew by less than a factor of two. Even so, the absolute amount of capex nearly doubled. Fiscal 2026 also had one more week than the prior year, so the two periods are not strictly comparable.
In fourth-quarter DRAM, prices rose in the high-teens percent range from the previous quarter, while bit shipments grew only in the mid-single digits. Price increases therefore contributed substantially to revenue growth, and it is hard to conclude from the falling capex ratio alone that financial capacity has expanded.
A more direct measure is how much cash remained after capex. Adjusted free cash flow (FCF), which is operating cash flow minus net capex, was $62.31 billion, sharply up from $3.72 billion a year earlier. After investing, the company was left with more than twice its net capex in cash.
Cash and investments at year-end totaled $73.5 billion. Of that, $12.7 billion was SCA deposits received from customers, which Micron is to return in the latter part of each contract if conditions such as minimum purchase volumes are met.
Capex for the first quarter of fiscal 2027 is expected to be about $11.5 billion. That is 18.7% of the $61.5 billion midpoint of the revenue guidance for the same quarter.
Given that net capex was only 20.5% of revenue and that $62.31 billion in adjusted FCF remained after investment, funding appears to be less of a constraint than construction and ramp-up time for the new fabs due to start up by around 2028. What determines when supply actually grows is when each fab can begin production.
New front-end fabs to come online in stages from mid-2027 to 2030
Organizing the site plans Micron presented on September 30, 2026 chronologically, its new front-end fabs (where DRAM and NAND circuits are formed on wafers) are scheduled to begin production in stages from 2027 to 2030.
| Timing | Site | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Early 2027 | Singapore | Initial production at HBM advanced packaging facility (back-end) |
| Mid-2027 | Idaho, US (ID1) | Wafer production begins |
| Mid-2027 | Tongluo, Taiwan | Full-scale product shipments begin |
| Second half of 2028 | Singapore | Production begins at new NAND fab |
| Late 2028 | Japan (DRAM fab expansion) | Initial production begins |
| Late 2028 | Idaho, US (ID2) | Wafer production begins |
| 2030 | New York, US (Fab 1) | Initial wafer production begins |
The start dates for the new front-end fabs are spread out, from ID1 in mid-2027 to Japan and ID2 in late 2028, the Singapore NAND fab in the second half of 2028, and New York Fab 1 in 2030.
All of these are company plans, not results. The Singapore HBM facility handles advanced packaging, a back-end process, and is not a facility that adds DRAM wafer capacity itself. For Tongluo, Taiwan, the mid-2027 date Micron gives is when full-scale product shipments begin, which the company distinguishes from the start of production.
At a new fab, the building is constructed first, then manufacturing equipment is installed, initial production begins, and output is gradually increased. Micron says that bringing up new DRAM and NAND fabs takes time and that the effect on supply becomes significant only several quarters after initial production.
CEO Sanjay Mehrotra also said at the briefing that building cleanrooms takes a long time and that, even after the first wafers are produced, capacity increases only gradually.
Future node transitions (shifts between process generations) are also expected to deliver smaller gains in productivity per wafer than before. In addition, the shift of mainstream HBM from HBM3E to HBM4 and HBM4E, and the fact that HBM requires more wafer area per bit than conventional DRAM, will also limit supply growth.
The company says it is working to extract maximum capacity from existing cleanrooms and has pulled forward spending on some manufacturing equipment as part of that effort.
If node transitions bring smaller productivity gains, however, additional funding is unlikely to speed up the start dates or capacity ramps of the new fabs already in the schedule through around 2028.
This constraint also shows up in the fiscal 2027 capex plan. Micron plans to raise fiscal 2027 capex from its previous plan, expecting about $11.5 billion in the first quarter and about $25 billion in the first half. Spending in the second half is expected to be higher still. These amounts are net of government incentives.
Most of the increase will go to buildings. The company explains that much of this building investment is intended to secure, early, cleanroom space that will be usable from the second half of 2028 onward. Growth in building investment is expected to far outpace growth in manufacturing equipment investment.
In the context of Japan, the expansion of the DRAM fab sits in the latter part of the schedule. At Micron's DRAM production site in Japan, including Hiroshima, a groundbreaking ceremony is to be held in the fourth quarter, with initial production starting in the second half of 2028. It will mainly support the transition to the next technology node.
Is the pace of expansion set by management decisions or by construction time? Watch ID1 and ID2 in the next report
There is also a plausible counterargument: that the pace of expansion is determined not by construction time but by management's investment decisions.
Net capex nearly doubled from $13.80 billion to $27.37 billion, and in fiscal 2027 it is expected to reach about $25 billion in the first half alone. Large sums are indeed being directed toward expanding production capacity.
At the briefing, CFO Mark Murphy acknowledged that capex as a share of revenue is at a historically low level, but explained that the structure of the memory industry has changed. He said the company would add capacity in an extremely disciplined way while ensuring sufficient returns on investment.
The Prepared Remarks also state that the company will add equipment-based capacity according to demand and market conditions. At least the pace of equipment investment is heavily influenced by management's judgment.
Another point to consider is that Micron itself explains the higher building investment as a way to secure cleanrooms available from the second half of 2028 sooner. If additional investment can bring forward future cleanroom availability, funding is not irrelevant.
In the same explanation, though, the company said ID1's mid-2027 start and ID2's late-2028 start are "on plan," and it did not say additional investment would pull forward the fabs already in the schedule. The increased investment is aimed mainly at new buildings and cleanrooms needed beyond that.
The view that construction time rather than money governs supply growth therefore applies mainly to the new fabs with scheduled start dates through around 2028. For new buildings beyond that, there is room to bring completion forward by spending more. The speed at which equipment is added within existing cleanrooms can also be adjusted by the company in response to demand.
Long construction times are not unique to Micron. According to CNBC, SK hynix plans to complete the cleanroom at its Cheongju M17 in December 2028 and the first cleanroom at Yongin Y2 in June 2029, so full-scale use would begin after the end of 2028.
Whether this view is correct can be checked in upcoming results.
What to watch in the next report, for the first quarter of fiscal 2027, is whether the wafer production start dates for ID1 (mid-2027) or ID2 (late 2028) change. If additional building investment brings production starts forward from the company's earlier plan, it would mean that, at least in part, money can shorten construction time.
On the other hand, even if ID1 begins wafer production in mid-2027 as planned, it would affect supply significantly only several quarters later. Micron itself says it cannot currently see when supply and demand will return to balance.