Buyback Watch: KLA, Flutter, and Grab Move Fast as Their Stocks Swing

Key Points

• KLA has surged due to chip shortages, and the company just increased its buyback capacity in a big way.
• As prediction market fears hit FLUT, analysts are indicating that a huge recovery may be ahead.
• Regulatory issues are rattling GRAB, and the company now clearly sees value in its stock.

Despite putting up wildly different performances lately, big names across semiconductors, entertainment, and e-commerce are indicating significant confidence in their outlooks through recent buyback announcements. This includes two beaten-down stocks that are looking to spend hundreds of millions on repurchases in relatively short order. With this, these companies likely see opportunity in their shares near current levels.

Semi Equipment Giant KLA Ups Buyback Capacity to $11 Billion

KLA NASDAQ: KLAC has been one of the market’s biggest large-cap winners recently, with shares up more than 100% over the past 52 weeks. This comes as the firm is one of the world’s top providers of semiconductor manufacturing equipment.

With the supply of leading-edge wafers and high-bandwidth memory constrained, equipment providers like KLA are likely to see robust demand going forward. After posting 7% year-over-year (YOY) growth last quarter, KLA’s guidance implies an acceleration to 9% growth next quarter. Currently, Wall Street forecasts see KLA’s revenue growth accelerating in each of the next five quarters.

Further supporting the company’s outlook is the $7 billion share repurchase plan KLAC recently announced. This comes as shares are down more than 10% from their 52-week high. It is possible that KLA believes the market reacted illogically to its last earnings report, as shares tanked 15% the next day. Thus, the company may see an opportunity in its share price, even as the stock has surged.

This authorization adds to the company’s unused $3.94 billion in buyback capacity, giving it a total capacity of just under $11 billion. This is equal to a sizable 5.8% of the firm’s approximately $190 billion market capitalization, giving KLA ample ability to repurchase shares.

Down +50%, FLUT Announces 10-Week Buyback Plan

On the other side of the equation, shares of Flutter Entertainment NYSE: FLUT have taken a huge hit over the past 52-weeks, down over 55%. Flutter operates FanDuel. Depending on the metric used, FanDuel has the first or second-highest market share of the U.S. online sports betting market. DraftKings NASDAQ: DKNG is the only competitor that rivals Flutter in market share. However, many view the rise of prediction markets in 2025 as a significant threat to Flutter’s traditional online sports betting business.

In its last earnings report, the company said that it did not believe prediction markets were having a meaningful impact on its business. However, the company also said that handle growth, or betting volume growth, was moderating. This leads to concerns that prediction markets are causing bettors to look to other platforms. Ultimately, the company missed estimates on sales and adjusted earnings per share by a wide margin, and the stock fell almost 14% after the report. 

Still, Flutter remains confident in its outlook, and the firm is ramping up its own prediction markets offering.

Demonstrating this confidence is the firm’s latest $250 million share repurchase arrangement. This arrangement is equal to a moderate 1.4% of the firm’s approximately $17.5 billion market capitalization. However, the company plans to execute the program over just 10 weeks. This suggests that Flutter wants to buy back its stock at a relatively quick pace to take advantage of recent prices.

GRAB Sees “Dislocation” in Shares, Announces $400 Buyback

Grab NASDAQ: GRAB is a dominant ride-hailing and food delivery platform in Southeast Asia. Within the region, the firm’s share of the food delivery market rose to 55% in 2025, up from 53.8% in 2024. Despite this, Grab is down over 20% during the past 52 weeks, and down more than 40% from its 52-week high.

Regulatory pressures have been a headwind for Grab as of late. For example, media outlets have reported that Indonesia, one of Grab’s largest markets, could take actions that significantly hurt Grab’s business.

This includes cutting the maximum commission cap that Grab can charge on rides from 20% to 10%. Grab notes that "if adopted, any such changes would increase our costs, reduce our margins, and diminish our operational flexibility."

Despite this, Grab’s guidance points to a strong year ahead, with the firm projecting 20% to 22% revenue growth in 2026. Meanwhile, it sees adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization rising by a range of 40% to 44%.

Grab also plans to deploy $400 million worth of share buybacks over the next four months. This would represent significant buyback spending over a short period of time, equal to around 2.7% of Grab’s approximately $14.6 billion market capitalization. Within this, $250 million will go toward an accelerated repurchase program, indicating that Grab feels a need to repurchase stock near current levels.

In its buyback announcement, Grab said, “We view the current share price dislocation as a clear opportunity to enhance shareholder value."

Could Regulators Help Turn FLUT’s Fortunes?

KLAC, FLUT, and GRAB are all moving to instill confidence in shareholders through these buyback announcements. As the Senate has introduced a bill to ban sports betting on prediction markets, Flutter is a particularly interesting stock going forward. The MarketBeat consensus price target on FLUT sits near $227, implying over 100% upside. However, targets updated after the company’s last earnings report are significantly lower, near $183. Still, this figure implies over 80% upside in the stock.