U.S. Share Buybacks Hit Record While Capex Lags Pre-Crisis Level
- Repurchases more than double in third quarter: S&P DJ Indices
- Capital expenditures still down 3% from pre-pandemic amount
An Apple store in New York.
Photographer: Jeenah Moon/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
U.S. companies bought back their own shares at a blistering pace in the third quarter, dwarfing the amount spent on key investments to help generate growth.
Share repurchases more than doubled from a year earlier for S&P 500 companies to an all-time high of $234.6 billion, according to preliminary data released Tuesday from S&P Dow Jones Indices. Meanwhile, capital expenditures increased 21% to $189 billion, which is still down 3% from the final three months of 2019 before the pandemic shutdown the economy.