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Stock buybacks: The strategy behind share repurchases

Greed or growth?
Written byKarl Montevirgen
Karl Montevirgen
Karl Montevirgen is a professional freelance writer who specializes in the fields of finance, cryptomarkets, content strategy, and the arts. Karl works with several organizations in the equities, futures, physical metals, and blockchain industries. He holds FINRA Series 3 and Series 34 licenses in addition to a dual MFA in critical studies/writing and music composition from the California Institute of the Arts.
Fact-checked byDavid Schepp
David Schepp
David Schepp is a veteran financial journalist with more than two decades of experience in financial news editing and reporting across print, digital, and multimedia publications.
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What does it mean when a company buys its own stock?
© Tada Images/stock.adobe.com, © Mikael Damkier/stock.adobe.com; Photo composite Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

When a company is sitting on excess cash, there are several productive things it can do with the money other than keeping it on ice. It can:

To the last point, one way to reward executives and shareholders is to buy back shares of company stock.

Stock buybacks are not commonly understood, and they tend to elicit mixed opinions among investors. Some see buybacks as an opportunity for share value growth, while others see it as stock price manipulation. Stock buybacks were, in fact, illegal for most of the 20th century—until 1982, when the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) green-lighted the practice.

Key Points

  • Once illegal, stock buybacks are now a common strategy in corporate finance.
  • Stock repurchases are still controversial and viewed by some as a form of market manipulation.
  • Despite the controversies, stock buybacks offer tax efficiency and other benefits to shareholders (and executives).

As an investor, you’re probably wondering whether stock buybacks are good or bad. The truth is that they can be either. It all depends on the company implementing the stock buyback program and the reasons behind it.

What is a stock buyback?

A stock buyback, also called a share repurchase, is a corporate finance strategy in which a company buys its stock from the market, reducing the number of outstanding shares. This tends to increase the value of the shares if demand remains constant or increases.

Why would a company buy back its shares?

There are plenty of advantages that make buybacks an attractive strategy for companies:

  • Boost EPS. By reducing the number of outstanding shares (i.e., supply), share repurchases tend to boost a company’s earnings per share (EPS), which Wall Street considers a key metric when valuing a stock.
  • Signal undervaluation. A stock buyback signals to the market that a company is taking the opportunity to buy back shares of its stock at a fraction of (what it believes to be) its real value.
  • Tax efficiency. Dividends, another way of rewarding shareholders, are subject to taxation (15% to 20%, depending on your filing status). But buybacks are almost nontaxable, save for the 1% excise tax that was recently imposed as part of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
  • Cutting buybacks may be preferable to reducing dividends. In tough economic times, companies can eliminate or decrease dividends altogether to increase their savings cushion. But in addition to eliminating an incentive that made the stock attractive, cutting dividends can also signal to the market that the company is struggling financially, which can cause the stock to drop. A buyback doesn’t share the same stigma because it doesn’t imply the same payout commitment.
  • Reduce dilution. If employees exercise their stock options, it can end up diluting the stock by increasing the number of outstanding shares. Stock buybacks can help manage and maintain the share count.

Why are stock buybacks controversial?

Although stock buybacks offer several advantages, arguments posed against the practice are worth considering:

  • Artificial EPS bump. If a company’s revenue and earnings paint a clear picture of its overall health and longer-term prospects, then stock buybacks can distort the picture. Buybacks can artificially inflate a stock’s price and EPS even if a company’s revenue or earnings performance is poor or weaker than expected. That’s why some people view buybacks as a form of price manipulation that can easily misguide investors.
  • Higher debt-to-equity ratio. Some companies take on debt to finance their buybacks. A higher debt-to-equity ratio and dwindling cash reserves can significantly increase a company’s risk, which in turn can make it less financially stable.
  • Missed investment opportunities. Some investors believe that companies should use extra cash to invest in growth, such as new infrastructure, research and development, or new technologies, rather than rewarding shareholders by inflating the value of their stocks.
  • Income inequality. Some detractors claim that buybacks enrich shareholders and executives at the expense of regular workers, widening income inequality within a company and contributing to wage stagnation.
  • A means to hide stock dilution. Issuing new stock for executive or manager compensation can dilute shareholder ownership, but companies can hide it by using buybacks to keep the share count steady.

How might stock buybacks affect a company’s valuation?

Ever heard of the capital asset pricing model (CAPM)? It’s a financial theory designed to help you figure out an asset’s expected return compared to the risk of the overall market.

The actual calculation can get involved, so instead, imagine this scenario: Suppose a money market fund and a high-risk stock are both offering an annual return of 3%. Which one are you going to invest in? The money market fund, of course. It’s impractical to invest in a high-risk stock for the same expected return as a virtually risk-free asset.

Top 10 largest stock buybacks*

*for the five-year period ended September 30, 2023

So, what would be a more appropriate expected return from the high-risk stock? That’s what CAPM is designed to help you figure out.

Stock buybacks can affect the way you value stocks. Buybacks change the capital structure of companies because most use up their cash reserves to implement share repurchases. If they take on debt to finance their buybacks, their debt-to-equity ratio increases, meaning they have higher interest rate payments.

Elevated debt levels can impact a stock’s beta, indicating heightened volatility, as it now faces increased market risk due to its greater debt load. Overall, these factors (and more) play a vital role in determining a stock’s expected return, regardless of the specific valuation method you use.

The bottom line

When used prudently, stock buybacks can be a tax-efficient way for a company to return capital to its shareholders. But when used unwisely, such as when a company seeks to add leverage to its balance sheet through debt financing or mask the dilution of shares via executive compensation, stock buybacks might not be the best use of capital.

A buyback implies that the company has nothing better to do with its money and that no investment—whether it’s replacing outdated equipment or making strategic acquisitions—can deliver a higher return than retiring shares.