Net buybacks
Net buybacks is what a company spent repurchasing its own shares during the year, minus what it raised issuing new ones.
How it is computed here
| Formula | share repurchases − share issuance |
|---|---|
| Unit | Currency amount |
| Period | One fiscal year, as reported |
| Source | Extracted from SEC filings; every value on an asset page carries the accounting tag and the filing it came from |
| Identifier | recompra_liquida |
What goes into the formula
| Repurchases of common stock | Cash spent buying shares back, from the financing section of the cash flow statement. |
|---|---|
| Proceeds from issuing stock | Cash taken in from selling new shares, including shares issued when employees exercise options. Subtracting it is the whole point: a company that buys back $1B while issuing $900M to its staff returned $100M, not $1B. |
A formula without its inputs explained is decoration. Where an input is missing from a filing, the metric is left empty here rather than completed with a zero or an estimate.
How to calculate net buybacks, step by step
Two companies that both announced a $1,000M buyback.
| Both — repurchases | $1,000M |
|---|---|
| Company A — stock issued | $50M |
| Company B — stock issued | $900M |
- A: net buybacks = 1,000 − 50 = $950M.
- B: net buybacks = 1,000 − 900 = $100M.
- Both press releases said one billion.
Result: $950M against $100M on identical headlines
B's buyback mostly bought back the shares B had just handed to its own employees. Its share count barely moved, and neither did what its owners own.
The figures in this example are illustrative and rounded — they are not a real company. The real figures on this site are the live ones below and on every asset page, each carrying the filing it came from.
What net buybacks is good for
In the United States buybacks are often larger than dividends, and reading only the dividend understates what a company hands back. Netting off issuance is what makes the figure honest: gross repurchases measure activity, net repurchases measure the transfer.
What this number does not tell you
Net buybacks can be negative — a company that issues more stock than it repurchases is taking capital in, not returning it, and this site shows the negative rather than flooring it at zero. The figure also says nothing about price: buying back shares is only good for the remaining owners if the shares were cheap, and companies have repeatedly bought most heavily at the top. Cash spent here is cash not invested in the business.
Every metric on this site is published with its blind spot stated. A figure without its limit is half a fact.
Highest reported net buybacks
| AAPLApple Inc. | $90.7B |
|---|---|
| GOOGAlphabet Inc. | $45.7B |
| GOOGLAlphabet Inc. | $45.7B |
| NVDANVIDIA CORP | $40.1B |
| JPMJPMORGAN CHASE & CO | $31.6B |
| METAMeta Platforms, Inc. | $26.2B |
| BACBofA Finance LLC | $21.4B |
| XOMEXXON MOBIL CORP | $20.3B |
From the most recent fiscal year of each company. Only companies reporting in US dollars are ranked here — a figure in yen or won is not larger, it is in another currency.
See it in a published filing
These pages show the figure across up to nineteen fiscal years, with the accounting tag and the filing behind every value.