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Stock Buybacks Race to Record $132 Billion Start as Companies Snub All Warnings

  • Robust demand seen adding fuel to new year’s equity rally
  • Morgan Stanley’s buyback desk see orders picking up pace
Chevron Corp.’s $75 billion buybacks marked the largest announcement for the month, accounting for more than half of the total. 

Chevron Corp.’s $75 billion buybacks marked the largest announcement for the month, accounting for more than half of the total. 

Photographer: Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg
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President Joe Biden dislikes them. The taxman is coming after them. And Wall Street strategists warn the boom won’t last. Yet against all odds, Corporate America continues to splurge on its own shares — a force that has fueled the new year rally.  

In the first month of 2023, announced buybacks more than tripled to $132 billion from a year ago, reaching the highest total ever to start a year, according to data compiled by Birinyi Associates. The planned repurchases surpassed the previous January record, set two years ago, by more than 15%.