Live Markets: Buybacks just hit annual record and it's only October
LIVE MARKETS-Buybacks just hit annual record and it's only October Welcome to the home for real-time coverage of markets brought to you by Reuters reporters. You can share your thoughts with us at markets.research@thomsonreuters.com
BUYBACKS JUST HIT ANNUAL RECORD AND IT'S ONLY OCTOBER
With more than two months to go in 2026, stock buyback announcements have already hit an annual record, according to the latest research from EPFR.
Stock repurchase authorizations from US companies have surpassed the $1.4 trillion mark for the first time in history, according to the research, which includes announcements up to Monday, October 26.
Analyst Winston Chua wrote that announcements have been more concentrated this year than in the past, with fewer than 1,000 companies making announcements so far. This compares with 1,138 for the full year of 2024 and 1,270 for 2025.
"We may approach last year's number," said Chua. "Generally participation hasn't been strong but the announcements have been larger." For example, the analyst pointed to huge buyback announcements from Nvidia NVDA.O and other notable buyback plans from General Motors GM.N and Micron MU.O.
"Strong balance sheets and AI have led to the surge among large-cap tech, industrial, and financial companies," according to Chua, who noted that buyback announcements "have also been used defensively from software and hardware names when there have been pullbacks in valuation."
And with many third-quarter earnings still to come, he said, "We do anticipate volume to be pretty strong in the next few weeks."
EPFR graphic showing buyback trends and S&P 500 performance:
(Sinéad Carew)
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