US Companies See Record Stock Buy Back in 2022 With $319 Billion Authorized YTD: FT

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) at Wall Street in New York on May 26, 2020. Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images

U.S. companies are rushing to repurchase large volumes of shares to take advantage of recent stock market volatility and reassure investors as growth slows, reported Financial Times.

The management uses the share buybacks to prop up demand for their stock and increase their profitability on an EPS basis by reducing the number of shares in circulation.

What happened

According to Goldman Sachs data, a record $319 billion of new share buybacks have been authorized so far this year, with rising numbers of companies using “accelerated” deals to buy large volumes as quickly as possible while their share prices are depressed.