Stock buybacks can be used to offset stock issued to employees as compensation, or to improve earnings per share by reducing the number of shares by which earnings are divided. Sometimes, companies repurchase stock simply because they believe their shares are undervalued.
Buyback proponents say they reward these long-term shareholders by effectively increasing their ownership of the company, and they help boost the value of a stock by raising the company's earnings per share. And when there's no other compelling use for a company's cash, this is a better alternative than risky spending on takeovers or other big investments.
But the other view on buybacks is that — like the restaurant removing tables — their only impact is in making things look better than they seem. Yes, earnings per share rise, but that's not because earnings are growing. Even their fiercest proponents — somewhat hypocritically — say they're overused.
With that in mind, I've compiled all stocks with a billion dollar buyback announcement during the year 2016. In total, there are exactly 82 companies with such a big share buyback volume.
Here are the results...
