Kioxia has forecast a $7.91 billion profit for Q3 and plans to buy back 5.5% of its shares. The $5 billion cost of the buy-back is 170% of its planned $2.9 billion annual capex budget. For Q2, CFO Yoshihiko Kawamura forecast an operating profit up 28x YoY at $7.94 billion and a net profit up 46x YoY of $5.26 billion on sales of $11 billion. “We are still in the early stages, and I believe the real growth is yet to come,” Kawamura. Kioxia said it was “deepening engagement” with customers for long-term agreements (LTAs) on supply with the aim of covering about 50% of total shipment volumes through LTAs, adding that it was on track to meet the target.