buyback

Buyback

The buying back of outstanding shares (repurchase) by a company in order to reduce the number of shares on the market. Companies will buyback shares either to increase the value of shares still available (reducing supply), or to eliminate any threats by shareholders who may be looking for a controlling stake.

Notes:

A buyback is a method for company to invest in itself since they can't own themselves. Thus, buybacks reduce the number of shares outstanding on the market which increases the proportion of shares the company owns. Buybacks can be carried out in two ways:

1. Shareholders may be presented with a tender offer whereby they have the option to submit (or tender) a portion or all of their shares within a certain time frame and at a premium to the current market price. This premium compensates investors for tendering their shares rather than holding on to them.

2. Companies buyback shares on the open market over an extended period of time.

See also: Anti-Dilution Provision, Dilution, Outstanding Shares, Share Repurchase, Short Covering, Short Selling

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Buyback

The covering of a short position by purchasing a long contract, usually resulting from the short sale of a commodity. See: Short covering, stock buyback. Also used in the context of bonds. The purchase of corporate bonds by the issuing company at a discount in the open market. Also used in the context of corporate finance. When a firm elects to repurchase some of the shares trading in the market.

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buyback

A company's repurchase of a portion of its own outstanding shares. The purpose of a buyback may be to acquire a block of stock from an investor who is unfriendly to the target firm's management and is considering taking over the firm. Conversely, a buyback may be an attempt to increase earnings per share by reducing the number of outstanding shares. Regardless of the purpose of a buyback, the result is increased risk for the firm because of reduced equity in the firm's capital structure. Also called stock buyback, stock repurchase plan. See also greenmail, partial redemption, self-tender.

Case Study Corporate stock buybacks generally consist of a company purchasing its shares in the open market or offering shareholders an above-market price for a certain proportion of their holdings. Either method will result in fewer outstanding shares and, hopefully, help support the market price of the firm's stock. In some instances companies sell short put options that commit the companies to buy back shares of their stock at a specified price until a certain date. Companies issuing the puts pocket premiums paid by investors who gain the right to force the company to buy back its own shares. If the stock price remains above the exercise price specified by the puts, option holders choose not to exercise the puts because they have no interest in selling stock at a below-market price. The unexercised options expire, allowing the companies to issue additional puts and pocket additional premiums. In the event puts are exercised, companies purchase shares they intended to purchase in any case. A problem develops when the company's stock price declines dramatically, in which case the company will be forced to repurchase its own shares at a price much higher than the market price. This is exactly what happened to PC maker Dell Computer during the first half of 2001, when the company was forced to repurchase some of its shares for $47 (the exercise price of the puts) at a time the stock was trading on the Nasdaq National Market in the mid-20s. In other words, Dell was being required to pay twice the market price to repurchase its shares because the company had earlier sold put options with strike prices that on the issue date seemed reasonable but later turned out to be substantially higher than the price at which the stock traded in a depressed market. According to an SEC filing, Dell had issued put contracts on 96 million of its own shares at an average exercise price of $44 per share. Unfortunately for Dell, the purchases of its stock at inflated prices came at a time when the firm's cash flow was being squeezed by a weak PC market.