Memory-chip companies are buying back stock hand over fist. But don't hold your breath if you are a shareholder of Micron Technology. The U.S. company will have to wait until at least the end of this year to do the same.

SK Hynix has announced a plan to repurchase 40 trillion won ($29 billion) worth of shares over the three months starting from Thursday just weeks after a U.S. listing, but the shares have struggled sice then. Japan's Kioxia just finished its own roughly $5 billion stock buyback this month.

Samsung Electronics is set to go even bigger, planning to announce a shareholder return program of more than 100 trillion won later this month, according to multiple reports in South Korea media. Samsung didn't immediately respond to Barron's request for comment early Thursday.

Samsung stock rose 9.5% in South Korea Wednesday. SK Hynix's American depositary receipts were up 3.7% in Thursday's premarket while Micron was gaining 0.7%.

Micron investors might be questioning when the U.S. memory-chip company will get in on the act but there's an obstacle. Micron is currently restricted from carrying out big share buybacks or special dividends due to conditions of the Chips Act funding it received from the U.S. government back in 2024.

However, the restrictions on share buybacks should expire on Dec. 9 of this year and the company has signaled it intends to step up capital returns from them.

UBS analyst Timothy Arcuri has estimated Micron will generate around $380 billion in cumulative free cash flow across 2027 and 2028 and should be able to use the "vast majority" of that cash to buy back stock. Micron had a market capitalization of $1.06 trillion as of Wednesday's close.

Micron shareholders face a frustrating wait for big cash returns but they should get their reward eventually.