Share repurchase programs, or common stock buybacks, are intended to reduce the number of outstanding common shares in companies. While reducing the total number of shares outstanding is often cited as the main intent, the ultimate outcome is higher earnings per share — and potentially increasing the value of those common shares still outstanding.
2026 is on pace for yet another record year in buybacks. That’s at least the take of JPMorgan in its latest forecasting. The banking giant and investment banking firm pointed out that U.S. and international stock buybacks set a new 2-month record in April and May (2026) — dishing out $533 billion buying back their own stocks in just two months.
Oggonomics has tracked many great buybacks over time. It may seem to be a no-brainer to chase the great stock buybacks After all, if investors are buying a stock while a company is aggressively buying its stock then it should be just that much more buying. That said, the key buyback ETF looks like it has impressive gains until the gains are compared to the broader S&P500 (see below).
WHO IS LEADING THE BUYBACK CHARGE?
Large technology companies, as usual, led the buyback charge despite the seemingly endless capital spending on AI infrastructure. Tech giants have continued to see surplus financing from cash flow, and this is allowing the buyback train to keep on rolling.
Buybacks also remain high for the large financial firms. The six largest U.S. banks spent a record $33 billion repurchasing their shares, handily outpacing expectations.
As for JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) itself, $JPM authorized a $50 billion stock buyback program in March-2026 as well as a dividend hike. This was one of the largest buyback plans in recent years — even if Jamie Dimon has noted his bank share valuation metrics are not cheap by any measure. The website Macrotrends has even shown that $JPM’s total common shares outstanding was 2.72 billion shares as of Q1-2026, down from more than 3.7 billion shares in 2015.
Evan late in 2025, JPMorgan was projecting that U.S. share buybacks were set to expand to further records in the coming years. This was projected to be 3% to 4% of the total equity market cap of stocks seen prior to the pandemic. That was after seeing a $1.5 trillion U.S. buyback pace in 2025. JPMorgan further cited 2024 buybacks of nearly $1.4 trillion and a $1.9 trillion pace for all of 2025.
INVESTORS SHOULD CONSIDER “BUYBACK” ETFS
Oggonomics tracks two ETFS that are dedicated to stock buybacks as their main focus.
Invesco BuyBack Achievers ETF ($PKW) focuses on corporations that have a net reduction in shares outstanding of 5% or more in just the trailing 12 months. That could be considered the “ultimate shrinkage ETF” in some circles. It counts $1.6 billion in assets under management as of this time. $PKW’s top 10 tickers in order of weighting: C, ADBE, WGC, JCI, MPC, GM, HCA, AFL, EBAY, CARR. Its gains are currently reported as follows:
3.14% YTD (vs. 9.5% for S&P500)
16.5% 1-Year (vs. 26% for S&P500)
53.5% 5-year (vs. 76% for S&P500)
198% 10-year (vs. 255% for S&P500)
ProShares S&P 500 Buyback Aristocrats ETF ($BUYB) is a newer ETF launched earlier in 2026. It is currently less actively traded with lower assets under management and focused exclusively on the S&P 500 Buyback Aristocrats, the high-quality companies that have continued share buybacks for at least 10 consecutive years. Now that’s some consistency. $BUYB’s top 10 tickers in order of weighting: QCOM, CSCO, AMAT, JBL, DVA, FIX, JBHT, AAPL, ODFL, A.
ARE BUYBACKS ACTUALLY SMART?
Do big stock buyback announcements mean that companies feel their stocks are undervalued? That depends on whom you ask. Some investors would prefer for companies to focus on dividends. Others argue that there are better opportunities to deploy capital for future growth. And some would argue that paying down debt (or avoiding debt) is the best move.
The overall perception of stock buybacks has a very wide disparity between investors and those who would prefer for companies to use their money for societal gain rather than equity gains. Some companies finance their share repurchases from their strong cash flow. Some companies finance their share buybacks buy issuing debt or after selling off certain assets.
The site LegalClarity shows a reminder that stock buybacks aren’t tax deductible, meaning that they do not reduce corporations’ taxable income. Corporations also currently face, with some exceptions, a 1% excise tax on their share repurchases.
The Cato Institute also tried to both sides of the coin about stock buybacks in general. Some support buybacks, others criticize them.
And MarketBeat maintains a list of current stock buyback programs, highlighting which plans are the largest percentage of their shares outstanding.
