Stock buybacks may be peaking, removing “a potential pillar of support” for earnings per share in 2023, according to RBC Capital Markets.
A new tax looms over buybacks, while companies also are facing higher borrowing costs, making funding share purchases with debt more expensive. Apple Inc. AAPL , Google parent Alphabet Inc. GOOGL , Meta Platforms Inc. META , Microsoft Corp MSFT . and Exxon Mobil Corp., Procter & Gamble Co. PG , Lowe’s Cos. LOW , Marathon Petroleum Corp. MPC and Nvidia Corp. NVDA and Chevron Corp. CVX ranked as the top 10 companies for buyback volume over that period, his note shows. Oil and gas producer Exxon Mobil XOM returned to the top five for the first time since the third quarter of 2014, he said.
And with companies in the area of technology, internet, media and telecommunications — or TIMT — under pressure, “we think it’s tough to paint a rosy picture for share buyback activity over the course of the next year,” she said.
They weren't pillars of support. They were devices used to inflate bubbles and pay C-suite executives their ill gotten gains. But I understand that you are paid to promote that. It's your job.