Apple and Google parent-Alphabet led all U.S. companies in stock buybacks during the second quarter, though overall repurchases fell nearly 22% from the previous quarter, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices. Meanwhile, Microsoft and Facebook-parent Meta also placed among the top five in stock buybacks.
Overall, S&P 500 buybacks in second quarter were $219.6 billion, down 21.8% from the first quarter's record $281 billion.
"Financials significantly pulled back on buybacks ($21.2 billion from $54.7 billion in Q1)," said S&P analyst Howard Silverblatt in an email. Silverblatt said some companies may be slowing buybacks to protect dividends.
He added: "The participation decline appears to be over economic concern — specifically forward profits."
Information technology companies continued to lead the way in buybacks. Buybacks by financial companies fell 61% to $21.2 billion. Health Care buybacks decreased 58% to $17.2 billion.
Compared to the year-earlier period, Q2 in 2021, buybacks rose 10%.
Apple Stock: $91.34 Billion Repurchased
Apple repurchased $24.56 billion of its own shares in the second quarter, down about 4% from a year earlier. The iPhone maker has repurchased $91.34 billion of Apple stock in the last 12 months.
Alphabet repurchased $15.19 billion of Google stock during the second quarter, up about 19% from a year earlier. The internet search giant has bought back $54.58 billion in Google stock over the last 12 months.
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And Microsoft repurchased $8.76 billion of its own shares in the second quarter, up about 21% from a year earlier. The software giant has repurchased $32.69 billion of Microsoft stock in the last 12 months.
Financial, Health Care Buybacks Fall
Facebook-parent Meta Platforms repurchased $6.2 billion of its own stock during the period, down about 26% from a year earlier. The social networking giant has bought back $53.27 billion of its own stock in the last 12 months.
Along with Apple stock and the others, three other tech firms were among the top 10 biggest buybacks. They included chipmaker Nvidia, Amazon.com and Charter Communications.
Retailer Lowe's was the only non-tech company in the top five. Lowe's bought back $4.1 billion of its own shares.
The top 20 companies accounted for 46.8% of second-quarter buybacks.
From a shareholder view, buybacks of Apple stock and other repurchases boost earnings by reducing outstanding shares.
Follow Reinhardt Krause on Twitter @reinhardtk_tech for updates on 5G wireless, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and cloud computing.
