Glossary
Stock buyback
A company buying back its own shares.
A stock buyback, or share repurchase, is a company buying its own shares, usually on the open market. The shares it buys are retired or held as treasury stock, so fewer shares are outstanding afterward.
Buybacks show up in the financing section of the cash flow statement. Apple spent $86.4B on repurchases in fiscal 2026. Its buyback, split and dividend history shows that figure every year since 2013 next to the falling share count.
A board authorizes a buyback program up to a dollar amount, and the company doesn’t have to use all of it. The 10-K and 10-Q report how much is left.
Longer explainer: Share buybacks
Related terms: Shares outstanding, Stock split
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Disclosures
- Editor holdings
- The editor holds no position in any company named on this page. As of Nov 11, 2026.
- Compensation
- Nobody paid for this page. No affiliate links on this page.
- Sources
- The SEC filings linked next to each figure.
- Last updated
- Nov 11, 2026
General education, the same for every reader. Not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security, and it doesn’t consider your situation.