Corporate America Plans Record Stock Buybacks as Turmoil Mounts
Apple Inc. is one of the US companies that announced plans to repurchase shares during the ongoing first-quarter earnings season.
Photographer: Michael Nagle/BloombergTakeaways NEW
US companies are planning to buy back their own shares at a historic clip, opting to return cash to shareholders and provide some support for their stock price in a time of great uncertainty.
The value of announced buybacks in the US reached $233.8 billion in April, the second highest monthly tally in records going back to 1984, according to data compiled by Birinyi Associates. Data from Deutsche Bank shows a similar trend, revealing a historic surge in repurchase announcements that are running at more than $500 billion over the past three months.