Also called share repurchase
Buyback
A company buying its own shares, which raises earnings per share by shrinking the denominator. Value-creating below intrinsic value and value-destroying above it.
Updated 2026-09-05
A buyback is a company purchasing its own shares on the market and retiring them. Fewer shares means each remaining one owns a larger slice of the same business, which raises earnings per share without earnings changing.
Whether it creates value depends entirely on price, and the test is simple: buying below intrinsic value transfers value to the holders who stay, and buying above it transfers value to the holders who leave. Companies buy back most heavily when they have the most cash, which is at the top of the cycle when the shares are most expensive, so the record in aggregate is poor. A tender offer is the same idea run as a formal public offer rather than quietly on the market.
See also
- Shares outstanding — The share count that converts a whole-company equity value into a per-share figure. Getting it wrong scales every valuation by exactly the same error.
- EPS — Profit for the last twelve months divided by the share count. Accounting profit, not cash, which is why Angie values the cash instead.
- Intrinsic value — Angie's estimate of what one share is worth, built from the company's own cash rather than from what anyone will pay. Compare it to today's price.
- Dividend — Cash paid out to shareholders. It is a decision about what to do with free cash flow, not a measure of how much of it there is.
Educational content, not investment advice. Angie explains how a valuation is built so you can judge it yourself. What you do with that is your call.
