Note K – Stock Repurchase Program

During 1998, the Company announced a program permitting the Company to repurchase a portion of its outstanding shares not to exceed a dollar maximum established by the Board. The program was amended on March 22, 2016 to increase the repurchase authorization to $17.15 billion from $16.4 billion. From January 1998 to August 27, 2016, the Company has repurchased a total of 140.8 million shares at an aggregate cost of $16.755 billion.

The Company’s share repurchase activity consisted of the following:


	Year Ended
(in thousands)	August 27, 2016		August 29, 2015		August 30, 2014
Amount	$	1,452,462	$	1,271,416	$	1,099,212
Shares		1,903		2,010		2,232

During fiscal year 2016, the Company retired 2.1 million shares of treasury stock, which had previously been repurchased under the Company’s share repurchase program. The retirement increased Retained deficit by $1.424 billion and decreased Additional paid-in capital by $67.0 million. During the comparable prior year period, the Company retired 2.1 million shares of treasury stock, which increased Retained deficit by $1.050 billion and decreased Additional paid-in capital by $57.4 million.

On September 22, 2016, the Board voted to increase the authorization by $750 million. This brings the total value of shares authorized to $17.9 billion. Subsequent to August 27, 2016, the Company has repurchased 390,473 shares of common stock at an aggregate cost of $297.6 million. Considering the cumulative repurchases and the increase in authorization subsequent to August 27, 2016, the Company has $847.7 million remaining under the Board’s authorization to repurchase its common stock.