3 Stocks Plan +$130B in Buybacks: Why Markets Wanted Even More

Key Points

• Typically, news of over $130 billion in buybacks would be something that markets are cheering.
• However, one company contributing the most to this $130 billion total saw its shares fall significantly after its buyback announcement.
• Why were markets disappointed by this tech giant, and does it spell disappointment to come for the stock?

In a bold show of confidence, several of the most influential companies in the technology and financial sectors have unveiled a wave of massive share repurchase programs, with newly announced buybacks totaling over $130 billion. This surge in buyback activity signals that corporate America still sees value in its own equity, even as markets grapple with mixed macroeconomic signals and uneven performance across sectors.

Visa NYSE: V announced a $30 billion program that underscores the strength of the payments ecosystem and a strong start to 2025. 

Apple NASDAQ: AAPL, with a headline-grabbing $100 billion authorization, one of the largest in history, ironically left some investors underwhelmed. 

Arista Networks NYSE: ANET is also aggressively buying back shares during a downturn, which suggests management believes the stock is significantly undervalued. 

This article breaks down the details behind these announcements and what they could mean for investors and market sentiment heading into the rest of 2025.

V: $30 Billion in Buybacks Amid Impressive Start to 2025

First up is Visa, the global leader in digital payments and financial infrastructure. With a market capitalization exceeding $700 billion, Visa plays a central role in facilitating transactions across nearly every country and industry. On May 9, the company announced a new $30 billion share buyback program, representing one of the largest repurchase authorizations in its history.

This new program is a substantial step up from the $25 billion plan announced in 2023 and signals continued confidence in the company’s long-term growth and valuation.

With this latest announcement, Visa’s total repurchase capacity now stands just shy of $35 billion when including the remaining balance from its previous authorization. This cumulative figure is equal to about 5.2% of the company’s total market capitalization, a notably aggressive figure for a company of its size. Buybacks at this scale are rare among mega-cap firms and typically reflect strong cash generation, a belief that shares are attractively priced, and limited better uses of capital in the current environment.

APPL: $100 Billion Buyback Program Is… Too Small?

The name making the biggest splash so far this earnings season when it comes to buybacks is Apple. The technology giant announced a new $100 billion share repurchase authorization. However, despite this being one of the largest buyback announcements of all time, some investors felt underwhelmed. That is because the record for the largest buyback program ever also goes to Apple, and this new program is $10 billion smaller.

The company announced a $110 billion buyback program in May 2024. Many hoped that the firm’s next buyback program would be larger, or at least the same size. This lower buyback figure likely played a part in the company’s stock falling almost 4% after its earnings release. The company beat estimates on revenue and adjusted earnings per share, while revenue guidance was relatively in line.

Wall Street analyst Angelo Zino at CFRA called Apple’s $100 billion buyback authorization “the biggest head-scratcher" from the company’s press release. However, the company revealing a forecast of $900 million in tariff-related costs for the current quarter was another possible culprit for the falling shares.

The company’s new buyback program represented a still significant 3.1% of its market capitalization on May 1, the day of the release. That is lower than the 4.1% of the company’s market capitalization the $110 program represented when Apple announced it on May 2, 2024. That is a sizable difference, but also not one that is going to make or break the fortunes of Apple. It is also not unprecedented for Apple to decrease its buyback program.

It did so by a larger percentage from 2018 to 2019, going from a $100 billion program to a $75 billion program. For what it's worth, Apple’s highest calendar year return from 2014 to 2024 came in 2019, amid that 25% buyback authorization reduction. The stock provided a total return of 86% that year, demonstrating that a smaller buyback program by no means precludes a stock from achieving great performance.

To be fair, 2019 was also the strongest return in that period for the S&P 500, but Apple still outperformed the index by 57%. Overall, Apple’s smaller buyback program is certainly a bit of a disappointment. But it also shouldn’t mean the difference between having a bullish or bearish opinion on the stock. Apple also announced a moderate 4% increase to its quarterly dividend.

ANET: Buying Back Stock in 2025 Like It’s Going Out of Style

Last up is a much smaller, but still important player in tech, Arista Networks NYSE: ANET. The firm announced a new $1.5 billion share buyback program. The company also has an additional $34 million in buyback capacity under its previous authorization. Overall, the company’s total buyback capacity is equal to around 1.4% of the company’s market capitalization as of the May 9 close.

Although this is a relatively small percentage of the company’s value, something that investors should take notice of is the pace at which the firm has been buying back shares recently. From the beginning of 2025 through April, Arista revealed that it has spent $887 million on buybacks.

This is by far the largest amount of stock the company has bought back over a four-month period. Considering shares are down around 22% in 2025, this feels like a clear indication that management has believed its stock to be significantly undervalued.