Stock buybacks — when a company repurchases its shares on the open market to increase value of the stock —
in the first quarter of 2021 from the fourth quarter, S&P Dow Jones Indices said in a report, nearing pre-Covid levels of activity and suggesting more companies are optimistic about their near-term prospects.Key Facts Specifically, companies in the S&P 500 index repurchased $178.1 billion of shares in the first quarter of 2021, a 36.5% jump from the fourth quarter of 2020 figure of $130.5 billion, and double the figure recorded in the pandemic low of $88.7 billion in the second quarter of last year.For the 12-month period ended March 2021, share buybacks dropped by 30.8% to $499.1 billion from $721.6 billion recorded in the 12-month period ended March 2020.
The number of companies making significant buybacks is accelerating — 335 firms repurchased at least $5 million in the first quarter of 2021, up from 244 in fourth quarter 2020, 190 in third quarter 2020, 170 in second quarter 2020, but still down from 373 in first quarter 2020.
late last year. S&P added that more companies will likely expand their buybacks in order to reduce share count and increase their earnings-per-share figures.$319.2 billion. That’s how much Apple has spent on share buybacks over the past five years, a period in which its stock price has almost quintupled in value.
you know capitalism is garbage when companies buying there stock back is a 'sign of economic optimism'