Corp. stock buybacks may hit record in 2024

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Corporate stock buybacks on track for a fresh record in 2024
By

Joseph Adinolfi

America's biggest companies have continued buying back their own shares at a frenzied pace in 2024.

As of Wednesday morning, publicly traded U.S. companies have announced plans to buy back about $1.1 trillion worth of stock, according to data from EPFR.

That's higher than the $943.4 billion announced through Oct. 15 of 2023. Ultimately, companies unveiled plans to buy back $1.2 trillion of stock last year, the highest on record, as MarketWatch's Joy Wiltermuth noted in a recent report. This year's total is on track to be even higher.

The record totals have come despite a tax on such transactions imposed by the Biden administration a couple of years ago.

Abbott Laboratories, Ulta Beauty Inc. and United Airlines Holdings Inc. all announced share-buyback plans when they reported earnings earlier on Wednesday, adding to the calendar-year total.

"Fewer companies are participating this year, but the announcements per company are bigger. A lot of companies have excess cash, and major shareholders of companies are paid through stock-based compensation, providing them with incentives to push equity prices higher," EPFR analyst Winston Chua said in comments emailed to MarketWatch.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs recently cited a resumption in corporate buyback flows following the end of the earnings-season blackout period later this month as one reason why the market could trend higher into the end of the year.

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