An Apple store in central Moscow.
Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty Images
The major technology companies are leading the market in many ways, including stock buybacks.
Apple (ticker: AAPL) remains No. 1 in the entire stock market. The iPhone maker repurchased $19 billion of stock in the March quarter, bringing the total for the past fourth quarters to $77 billion.
Apple added $90 billion to its repurchase authorization. Luca Maestri, the company’s chief financial officer, said on a conference call on Wednesday that “we continue to believe there is great value in our stock and maintain our target of reaching a net cash neutral position over time.”
Apple had $83 billion of net cash (which is cash, less debt) at the end of the quarter. Apple’s aggressive stock buyback is one reason that Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett is so enamored of the company. Berkshire (BRK.A and BRK.B) holds a 5% stake in Apple and is one its largest investors.
Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) repurchased a record $11.4 billion of stock in the quarter, up from $8.5 billion a year earlier, and Facebook (FB) bought back $3.9 billion, triple the total a year ago.
But Apple is the champ when it comes to reducing its share count, which is the acid test of any big repurchase program. Apple’s share count declined by almost 4% year-over-year and by over 20% since the end of 2016. Its current market value is $2.2 trillion.
With its ramped up repurchase program, Alphabet is cutting into its share count, which fell almost 2% year-over-year in the March quarter. The buybacks are comfortably exceeding Alphabet’s ample issuance of stock compensation to employees. Alphabet authorized an additional $50 billion of stock repurchases.
Facebook’s buyback program hasn’t dented its share count, which was little changed year-over-year at 2.85 billion.
Microsoft (MSFT) is making more headway, with its buyback reducing its share count by nearly 1% in the past year. Microsoft bought back about $7 billion of stock in the March quarter and $20 billion in the first nine months of its fiscal year ending in June.
Apple and Microsoft also return cash to holders through dividends, although both now have yields under 1%. Alphabet and Facebook don’t pay dividends.
Write to Andrew Bary at [email protected]
