In the first quarter of 2021, S&P 500 companies bought back stock at an annual run rate of about $712 billion.
"Upbeat fourth-quarter results would bolster expectations for a strong rebound in earnings in 2021."
“The index has never added such an immensely large stock at the same time that options volumes and open interest are at record highs.”
Even a relatively mild decline in demand could easily push Tesla back into negative income territory.
If current trends hold, eventually stock-retention requirements for CEOs may be almost as universal as equity ownership requirements.
The buyback boom is raising concerns as companies are returning more cash to shareholders than they are generating in free cash flow.
Public companies' most recent proxy statements contain more disclosure from their audit committees about the selection and oversight of external auditors.
"This is a correction. The question is does it lead to a bear market," says one money manager.
Instead of debating whether to ban share repurchases, we should focus on how to exclude the impact of buybacks from executive compensation.
What does your capital deployment strategy say about your growth expectations?
The gain was the third in four quarters but some analysts are cutting back their forecasts for S&P 500 earnings for the first quarter.
A survey finds disclosure of information on key areas of external auditor oversight has more than doubled in the past two years.
