A token dividend from a cyclical memory maker — covered many times over, but 0.06% is not income. The $0.15 quarterly dividend ($0.60 annualized) is 1.0% of fiscal 2026 free cash flow and the balance sheet is in a net-cash position. Micron resumed the dividend in 2021, held $0.115 a quarter through 2025, and raised it about 30% to $0.15 in March 2026 — no cut in the modern series. The 0.06% yield is under 1%, which grades the card warn under §1. Memory is deeply cyclical: the dividend was suspended in the 1990s, outside the ten-year window, and earnings can fall sharply in a downturn.
Key risk: Cyclicality — memory pricing swings drive earnings from record to loss, and the dividend has been suspended before in a deep downturn.
Changes if: The yield rises above 1% through raises, or the payout becomes a stated policy through a full cycle.
- ✓FCF payout (§3) 1.0% of FY2026 free cash flow — inside the 60% pass band.
- ✓Dividend history (§3) No cut in the modern series (2021–2026); raises in 2022 and 2026. 1990s suspension outside the ten-year window, flagged as a risk.
- ✓Leverage (§3) Net cash: $38,364m cash against ≈$3,283m debt at fiscal 2026 end.
- !Yield (§1) 0.06% — under 1%, graded warn as a growth holding.
What this grade doesn't say: It screens the dividend only — covered, real, compounding. It says nothing about valuation or price: a well-covered payer can still be overpriced, and its price can still fall.