Apple’s Huge Buybacks Matter as Much to Investors as iPhones and Mac

Verity Senior Analyst Ali Ragih shared buyback insights with Bloomberg, Fortune, and The Globe and Mail.

Bloomberg Excerpt

Investors like buybacks because they reduce outstanding shares, boosting earnings on a per share basis and providing a lift to the stock. For Apple, its capital return strategy and steady cash flows are helping fuel outperformance. The stock is up 27% in 2023, on course to beat megacap peers Microsoft Corp., Alphabet Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. for a second consecutive year.

In the past decade, Apple has spent $573 billion on buybacks, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, by far the most among US companies. What’s more, the firm’s buying has been relatively steady despite stock market volatility or business cycles.

“Apple hasn’t tried timing the market when it comes to buybacks, so I don’t think they’ll meaningfully slow buybacks as shares rally,” said Ali Ragih, senior analyst at VerityData, a research firm that specializes in tracking insider activity and stock repurchase trends.