- S&P 500 Q2 2024 buybacks were $235.9 billion, down 0.4% from Q1 2024’s $236.8 billion and up 34.9% from Q2 2023’s $174.9 billion
- The 12-month June 2024 expenditure of $877.5 billion was up 8.0% from the prior 12-month expenditure of $812.5 billion
- Information Technology increased spending by 19.3%, as Health Care and Communication Services reduced their spending by 26.2% and 23.6%
- The net buyback 1% tax reduced Q2 2024 operating earnings by 0.45% and As Reported GAAP by 0.49%
NEW YORK, October 7, 2024: S&P Dow Jones Indices (“S&P DJI”) today announced the preliminary S&P 500® stock buybacks or share repurchases data for Q2 2024.
Historical data on S&P 500 buybacks is available at www.spdji.com/indices/equity/sp-500 .
Key Takeaways:
- Q2 2024 share repurchases were $235.9 billion, down 0.4% from Q1 2024’s $236.8
billion expenditure, and up 34.9% from Q2 2023’s $174.9 billion. - For the 12-months ending June 2024, buybacks were $877.5 billion, up from $812.5 billion for the prior 12-month June 2023 period; the 12-month peak was in June 2022 with $1.005 trillion.
- 324 companies reported buybacks of at least $5 million for the quarter, down from 352 in Q1 2024 and up from 304 in Q2 2023; 373 companies did some buybacks for the quarter, down from 380 in Q1 2024 and up from 367 in Q2 2023; 419 companies did some buybacks in the last 12-month period, down from 425 in the prior 12-month period.
- Buybacks remained top heavy, as concentration increased, with the top 20 S&P
500 companies accounting for 52.3% of Q2 2024 buybacks, up from Q1 2024’s 50.9%, and above the historical average of 47.5% and the pre-COVID historical average of 44.5%. - 12.7% of companies reduced share counts used for earnings per share (EPS) by at least 4% year-over-year, down from Q1 2023’s 13.3% and down from Q2 2023's 16.3%; for Q2 2024 167 issues increased their shares used for EPS over Q1 2024, and 261 reduced them.
- S&P 500 Q2 2024 dividends increased 1.2% to $153.4 billion from the prior Q1 2024
$151.6 billion and were 7.1% greater than the $143.2 billion in Q2 2023. For the 12-month's ending June 2024, dividends set a record $603.3 billion payments, up 4.7% on an aggregate basis from the prior 12-month June 2023’s $576.4 billion. - Total shareholders return of buybacks and dividends increased to $389.3 billion in Q2 2024, up 0.2% from Q1 2024’s $388.4 billion and up 22.4% from Q2 2023’s $318.1 billion. Total shareholder returns for the 12-months ending June 2024 increased 6.6% to $1.481 trillion from the prior 12-month periods $1.389 trillion.
- The 1% tax on net buybacks, which started in 2023, reduced the Q2 2024 S&P 500 operating earnings by 0.45%, down from Q1 2024’s 0.47% impact. It also reduced As Reported GAAP earnings by 0.49%, down from the prior 0.54%. For the 12-month June 2024 period, the 1% tax on net buybacks reduced earnings by 0.44% for operating and 0.49% for As Reported.
