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 20, 2018 to increase the repurchase authorization to $19.65 billion from $18.65 billion. From January 1998 to August 25, 2018, the Company has repurchased a total of 144.7 million shares at an aggregate cost of $19.418 billion.

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


	Year Ended
(in thousands)	August 25, 2018		August 26, 2017		August 27, 2016
Amount	$	1,592,013	$	1,071,649	$	1,452,462
Shares		2,398		1,495		1,903

During fiscal year 2018, the Company retired 1.5 million shares of treasury stock which had previously been repurchased under the Company’s share repurchase program. The retirement increased Retained deficit by $918.5 million and decreased Additional paid-in capital by $60.5 million. During the comparable prior year period, the Company retired 1.8 million shares of treasury stock, which increased Retained deficit by $1.321 billion and decreased Additional paid-in capital by $64.9 million.

On September 26, 2018, the Board voted to increase the authorization by $1.25 billion. This brings the total value of the shares authorized to $20.9 billion. Subsequent to August 25, 2018, the Company has repurchased 346,979 shares of common stock at an aggregate cost of $263.4 million. Considering the cumulative repurchases and the increase in authorization subsequent to August 25, 2018, the Company has $1.22 billion remaining under the Board’s authorization to repurchase its common stock.