S&P 500 Q1 2022 buybacks were $281.0 billion, up 4.0% from Q4 2021’s record of $270.1 billion; the 12-month March 2022 expenditure of $985 billion set a record, up 11.7% from 2021’s record of $882 billion and up 97.2% from the 12-month March 2021’s $499 billion
NEW YORK, June 16, 2022: S&P Dow Jones Indices (“S&P DJI”) announced today preliminary S&P 500® stock buybacks, or share repurchases, data for Q1 2022.
Historical data on S&P 500 buybacks are available at www.spdji.com/indices/equity/sp-500.
Key Takeaways:
- Q1 2022 share repurchases were a record $281.0 billion, up 4.0% from Q4 2021’s record $270.1 billion expenditure and up 57.8% from March 2021’s $178.1 billion.
- 374 companies reported buybacks of at least $5 million for the quarter, up from 325 in Q4 2021 and up from 335 in Q1 2021; 395 companies did some buybacks for the quarter, up from 383 in Q4 2021 and up from 370 in Q1 2021; 432 companies did some buybacks for the 12-months ending March 2022, up from 416 in the prior period.
- Buybacks remained top heavy but declined significantly with the top 20 companies accounting for 42.1% of Q1 2022 buybacks, down from Q4 2021’s 51.8%, down from the dominating 87.2% in Q2 2020, and down from the pre-COVID historical average of 44.5%.
- For the 12-months ending March 2022, buybacks were a record $984.6 billion, a 97.2% increase from the $499.2 billion spent in the March 2021 time period.
- 6% of companies reduced share counts used for earnings-per-share (EPS) by at least 4% year-over-year, up from Q4 2021’s 14.9% and Q1 2021's 5.8%, but were still significantly down from the Q1 2019 rate of 24.9%.
- S&P 500 Q1 2022 dividends increased 2.8% to a record $137.6 billion from Q4 2021’s $133.9 billion and were 11.1% greater than the $123.9 billion in Q1 2021. For the 12-months ending March 2022, dividends were a record $524.9 billion, up 9.3% on an aggregate basis from the 12-month’s March 2021’s $480.1 billion.
- Total shareholder return of buybacks and dividends was a record $418.6 billion in Q1 2022, up 3.6% from Q4 2021’s $404.0 billion and up 38.6% from Q1 2021’s $302.0 billion.
- Total shareholder return for the 12-months ending March 2022 increased to a record $1.510 trillion from the March 2021 $0.979 trillion.
- Buybacks are expected to continue at a higher level for Q2 2022, even as prices have declined, as reduced prices will increase the number of shares purchased and lift EPS due to share reduction.
