Markets · 6 pages · 12 min

Why the share count falls in a buyback

Shares the company buys and does not reissue leave the count of shares outstanding.

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From the opening

When a company buys its own shares and retires them, or holds them as treasury stock, those shares are no longer outstanding. The count of shares in the market falls because the firm has absorbed claims that used to belong to outside owners. The opening covers repurchased shares leave the market, treasury shares do not count, and per-share math uses fewer claims.

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Inside

Repurchased shares leave the market
Treasury shares do not count
Per-share math uses fewer claims
New issues can offset it
Where the idea stops applying
A distinction worth keeping

Sources

Treasury stock
Shares outstanding after repurchase

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Why the share count falls in a buyback

From the opening

Inside

Sources

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